Pallekele: Mahela Jayawardene (65 off 49 balls) led from the front to give his team the biggest win in a T20 game, as Sri Lanka beat West Indies by nine wickets in its second Super Eights game of the ICC World T20 tournament on Saturday.

After losing their first wicket in the form of Tillakratne Dilshan in the third over, Mahela forged an able second-wicket partnership with Kumara Sangakkara (39 off 34 balls). The duo added of 108 runs and helped Sri Lanka achieve the target of 130 with 28 balls to spare, which will go a long way giving the hosts a better run rate.

Earlier batting first, West Indies were in for an early trouble when they lost Johnson Charles and Chris Gayle, both at a score of 16. However, Dawyne Bravo and Marlon Samuels started the rebuilding process slowly and steadily and added 65 runs for the third wicket before Bravo was caught by Dilshan off Ajantha Mendis in the 15th over.

Mendis was the pick of the bowler for the Sri Lankans as the spinner bowled tight line and length to give only 12 runs in his four overs, taking two wickets in the process. He also got rid of Kieron Pollard.

Both Sri Lanka and West Indies have won their opening games, and have one game each left. The possibility of three teams in this group ending up with equal points has brightened.  West Indies now has to beat New Zealand and wait for the outcome of the last match in Pallekele — between Sri Lanka and England — to find out if it has made the cut for the last four.

Scoreboard

West Indies: 129 for 5 in 20 overs (Dwayne Bravo 40, M Samuels 50, Ajantha Mendis 2 for 12)

Sri Lanka: 130 for 1 in 15.2 over (Mahela Jayawardene 69, Kumar Sangarakkara 39, Ravi Rampaul 1 for 39).