Jayawardene ton floors Zimbabwe

Batting was expected to be difficult on a slow and low pitch in Providence but the touch artist Mahela Jayawardene sparkled with a delightful ton, only the fourth batsman to hit a Twenty20 hundred, to charge Sri Lanka to 173. A heavy downpour after one over into the chase left Zimbabwe needing 104 from 11 initially, but it rained again to terminate the match after five overs were completed. Sri Lanka won on the D\L method as Zimbabwe only reached 29 for 1 when the par score was 43.

The rains stayed away, however, until Jayawardene treated the sparse crowd to a charming knock. Only one other batsman in Sri Lanka's top six touched double digits; it said much about the pitch and the form of the other batsmen but most importantly it highlighted Jayawardene's mastery.

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Injured Murali out of World Twenty20

Sri Lanka's chances at the World Twenty20 have suffered a huge blow after offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan was ruled out of the tournament with a groin injury. He has been advised two to three weeks' rest, and no replacement has been named yet.

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Watson stars as Australia defeat Pakistan

Shane Watson top-scored with 81 as Australia punished lax Pakistan fielding to win their opening World Twenty20 match by a convincing 34 run margin on Sunday.

Man-of-the-match Watson's innings was the cornerstone of Australia's 191 all out, made after captain Michael Clarke won the toss.

But the all-rounder was dropped on 11 by Misbah-ul-Haq and missed on 20, again by Misbah, who couldn't get a hand on a skied chance after running back at long-on, with Mohammad Hafeez the unlucky bowler on both occasions.

Watson made defending champions Pakistan pay by striking four sixes and seven fours in his blistering 49-ball innings and with David Hussey he put on 98 in under nine overs for the third wicket.

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Raina century takes India to Super Eight

India qualified for the Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup as Suresh Raina's maiden T20 hundred scripted team's thrilling 14-run win over South Africa in a group C match on Sunday.

India escaped a late assault from the Protea batsmen to score their second successive win and topped their group.

Powered by Raina's hundred, first by an Indian batsman in the shortest format, India posted a commanding 186 for five after invited to bat at Beausejourn stadium.

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