Sri Lanka ease past Windies in WT20 warm-up

Unbeaten fifties by Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan gave hosts Sri Lanka a nine-wicket victory over the West Indies in their first warm-up match ahead of the World Twenty20, in Colombo, on Thursday.

Skipper Jayawardene (57 not out) and opener Dilshan (50 not out) put on 103 for the second-wicket to help the team achieve the 133-run target the Windies had set them with 26 balls to spare.

Jayawardene clobbered two sixes and six fours in his 35-ball knock, while Dilshan had a six and five boundaries in his 38-ball fifty.

The West Indies, who rested star opener Chris Gayle, found runs hard to get and thanks to Johnson Charles (30), Darren Bravo (29) and Kieron Pollard (28 not out) they were able to put up a healthy total.

The Lankans are drawn in Group C in the preliminary league along with South Africa and Zimbabwe, while the West Indies are in Group B with Australia and Ireland.

Two teams from each group advance to the Super Eights round.

In another match in Colombo, wicketkeeper-batsman Niall O'Brien scored a 49-ball 62, inclusive of two sixes and four boundaries, as Ireland easily beat Zimbabwe by 54 runs.

Kevin O'Brien, brother of Niall, who hit a brisk unbeaten 30 off 14 balls, and Ed Joyce, with 29, were the other main contributors for Ireland as they amassed 181-5 off 20 overs.

They then restricted Zimbabwe to 127-8. Opener Hamilton Masakadza top-scored for Zimbabwe with 44, including two sixes and five fours, as pacer Alex Cusack wrecked them finishing with three wickets for six runs from three overs. Left-arm spinner George Dockrell claimed 3 for 28 from four overs.