Sri Lanka’s facile win over the West Indies has pretty much ousted the hosts from the World Cup. So the jinx associated with home teams not winning the World Cup continues though of course the Lankans won the 1996 World Cup jointly hosted by Indian Pakistan and Sri Lankan. The final was in Lahore not quite home to Lanka but yes, technically, that is the only occasion that a host team has won the World Cup.

The West Indians frittered away a golden chance by bowling in a wayward manner after having captured two early wickets. This allowed Sanath Jayasuriya to flex his arms and take heavy toll of the bowling and also let the out-of-form Jayawardene to find his touch and get some valuable runs under his belt. Then Dilshan, who is an underrated performer, came in and thumped the ball to take Sri Lanka past the 300-mark. Here is a player who comes in to bat at the difficult number 6 and adjusts his game beautifully according to the needs of the side. If it is to repair and consolidate, then that’s the way he will bat, and if it is to go on an all-out attack, then he will smash and bang just about every ball. What a player to have in your team!

Then there’s Malinga, whose action makes it tough for regular batsmen to pick the ball, and so it is virtually hopeless for the tail-enders to do likewise as they flail the bat around. He has made a huge difference to the Lankan attack and with the Lankan fielding being sprightly, they are a team that cannot be taken lightly.

The Man of the Match was deservingly Sanath Jayasuriya for his 25th One day hundred and a fine spell of bowling, during which he captured three wickets. What Jayasuriya has shown in this tournament is that is it not important how old one is, but how good one is, and Jayasuriya is very, very good indeed.