Sanga praises Dilshan's maturity

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE reporting from England

Kennington Oval, Saturday - Tillakaratne Dilshan was hailed as a pioneering strokemaker by Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara after his heroics that went to help Sri Lanka triumph against West Indies.

Skipper Sangakkara in a media conference after the game at the Kennington Oval said: "I have run out of superlatives to describe Dilshan. He has been a pioneering strokemaker in the World Cup T20 and the best thing about him for us is that he has understood his role over the past year and a half.

"He has become very responsible and has matured and has finally come to understand just how good he is. It was a fantastic knock of 96 not out, greatly supported by all the other guys around him.

Speaking further Sangakkara said that the ball was not really coming on, probably not a typical Oval wicket. We expected it to be better and come on really well. But this was a perfect pitch for us - batting first - putting up a good score and really turning the screws on.

"We have got a great bowling attack and all of them are thinking cricketers so, hopefully, we can go one more step in the competition and carry away the trophy', said the Lankan skipper.

Chrys Gayle who seemed to be upbeat in defeat congratulated his players for reaching the semi-final, rather than commenting on their performance.

He said: "I was really happy with the guys for the performance to reach the semi-final.

It was just one of those things. Hopefully we can use it as a learning experience and next time round, we can be strong.

"We did not start well and with the batting as well. We just could not get the runs on the board. It didn't happen, like I said, it was one of those things", concluded the West Indian captain.

This how the SUN headlined Sri Lanka"s amazing victory - SRI-MENDOUS.