West Indies (SQUAD)

The first match of the 2007 tournament between South Africa and the West Indies saw history being written when Chris Gayle became the first Twenty20 International centurion. Unfortuntely for Gayle and his side they went on to lose the match by eight wickets as Herschelle Gibbs and Justin Kemp matched Gayle’s fireworks.

Having scored over 200 in the defeat to South Africa, the West Indies were expected to comfortably dispatch Bangladesh in their second group match but they were in for a surprise.

Many people said before the tournament started that the ICC World Twenty20 2007 could provide the lower-ranked sides the chance to shine. And having beaten both India and South Africa at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies, Bangladesh pulled off another shock in Johannesburg.

Gayle failed to put a run on the board and only a half century by Devon Smith helped West Indies reach 164 as Shakib Al Hasan claimed four wickets.

A spirited Bangladesh then galloped to the target thanks to two brilliant half centuries from Aftab Ahmed and captain Mohammad Ashraful to win the match by six wickets and send the West Indies packing.

Though many of the West Indies players had taken part in the Stanford Twenty20 they had never hosted a T20 International match in the Caribbean before this competition. That has now been rectified and with more experience under their belts and Gayle still likely to be a prominent threat at the top of the order they will expect to progress from the group stage in 2009.

Age 29 years
Playing role Batsman
Batting Left-hand bat
Bowling Right-arm offbreak

Age 24 years
Playing role Wicketkeeper
Batting Right-hand bat

Age 27 years
Batting Right-hand bat
Bowling Right-arm medium-fast

Age 27 years
Playing role Bowler
Batting Right-hand bat
Bowling Right-arm fast

Srilanka (SQUAD)

Placed in Group C along with New Zealand and Kenya, Sri Lanka’s first match in the 2007 event saw them thrash Kenya by 172 runs at the Wanderers. Sanath Jayasuriya batted with characteristic freedom scoring a 44-ball 88 and Jehan Mubarak’s late fireworks lifted Sri Lanka to a record team score of 260 for 6, a target way out of reach for the opposition as Kenya managed just 88. Sri Lanka won by a record margin of 172 runs.

Against New Zealand, Jayasuriya displayed fireworks once again with a 44-ball 61 to win by seven wickets. A delightful cameo of 37 at the end from Mahela Jayawardene was enough to punish New Zealand as Sri Lanka maintained their perfect record in the competition.

However, the Super Eight League saw them lose out to Pakistan as they were choked by 33 runs. Lasith Malinga picked up three wickets including that of Man of the Match Younis Khan but it was not sufficient to rescue them from defeat. Chasing a total 189, the openers failed to deliver and the team was bundled out for 156 runs.

Close after this defeat, Sri Lanka stormed to a 64-run win against Bangladesh. The victory pushed Bangladesh out of contention for a semi-final place, and left Sri Lanka needing to beat Australia to progress to the final four.
But the Australians produced one of the displays of the tournament to deliver a 10-wicket knockout punch to the Lankans.

It was a day Sri Lanka would like to forget. After being dismissed for only 101, they could not stop the Australian run-chase as they achieved the target in half the time with all wickets intact.

Even if Jayasuriya doesn’t make it to England in 2009 Sri Lanka will still have one of the strongest batting line-ups with the experienced Mahela Jayawardena and Kumara Sangakkara likely to comprise a formidable middle-order while Lasith Malinga’s sling-arm action is capable of destroying the best line-ups.

Age 31 years
Batting Left-hand bat
Bowling Right-arm offbreak

Age 37 years
Batting Right-hand bat
Bowling Right-arm offbreak

Age 35 years
Batting Right-hand bat
Wicketkeeper
Bowling Right-arm offbreak

Age 39 years
Batting Left-hand bat
Bowling Slow left-arm orthodox

Age 24 years
Batting Right-hand bat
Bowling Right-arm fast-medium