Jayawardene, spinners guide Sri Lanka to final

 Mahela Jayawardene and his lion-hearted spinners powered Sri Lanka to their second World Twenty20 final following the team’s 16-run win over 2009 champions Pakistan in the first semi-final on Thursday.

Opting to bat first, Jayawardene (42) added 63 runs with Tillakaratne Dilshan (35) but Sri Lanka could not capitalise on the strong start on a sluggish track and posted 139 for four wickets.

Jayawardene then returned to marshal his bowlers who restricted Pakistan to 123 for seven to earn a place in Sunday’s final against either Australia or West Indies.

“It means a great deal, great support from the fans,” said the Sri Lanka captain, denying the team was under pressure from the fans to win their first World Twenty20 title.

“I think like everyone said it’s not pressure for us. It’s like our 12th man, pretty much cheering us up. It’s been great to perform like this in front of a great crowd.”

Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath was one of the key performers, justifying his selection ahead of Akila Dananjaya by claiming three for 25 while Ajantha Mendis (2-27) and Angelo Mathews (2-27) shared four wickets between them.

“It was a tough call to keep out birthday boy Akila Dananjaya but we felt with Pakistan, they have a history against left-arm spin,” Jayawardene said.