Tillekeratne Dilshan has every chance of being named the player of the World Twenty20 tomorrow when Sri Lanka and Pakistan contest the final at Lord’s, a game full of pathos coming little more than three months after their Test match in Lahore was abandoned after the terrorist attack on the touring team.

Going into the last match, Dilshan is the leading run-scorer with 317, has hit 18 more fours than his nearest rival — 46 to the 28 of Jacques Kallis — and came last night within a few feet of extending the best individual innings of the competition into its first century from the final ball against a powerless attack.

It was not so much the “Dilscoop” as the Dildrive, Dilpull and Dilcut that did for West Indies. Dilshan’s unbeaten 96 came from 57 balls, while the 63 faced by his colleagues produced only 62 runs. The comparison would be even starker but for a cameo of 12 runs from four balls by Angelo Mathews at the finish of the innings.

Dilshan seemed to be playing a different game, dominating a first-wicket stand of 73 with Sanath Jayasuriya. Later, Chamara Silva contributed 11 of a 50-run partnership. Dilshan twice hit Dwayne Bravo for three fours in an over, slogging only once he started to tire.

West Indies found hope when Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena all self-destructed in the eleventh and twelfth overs, but Dilshan carried on regardless, almost hitting Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, for the six he needed to complete three figures at the end.

Gayle knew that West Indies needed early runs before Sri Lanka turned to spin. He cannot have expected that Mathews would be the executioner, leaving the reply teetering at one for three after six balls as Xavier Marshall and Bravo edged on unsure whether to play or leave, and Lendl Simmons was bowled leg stump. Gayle carried his bat for 63 from 50 balls, but none of his colleagues attacked Muttiah Muralitharan with equal conviction.

Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, praised his team’s mental toughness. “Terrorism can happen to anyone and it happened to us,” he said. “I think it’s great the way the guys have gone out, showed no fear and focused on cricket. I think this is a fitting reward.”

It was not all sweetness and light. Sangakkara was fined 10 per cent of his match fee and the rest of his side 5 per cent because Sri Lanka were judged to have fallen an over short of completing their allocation in time.

Sri Lanka
T M Dilshan not out 96
S T Jayasuriya c Taylor b Bravo 24
*†K C Sangakkara c Pollard b Bravo 0
D P M D Jayawardena c Chanderpaul b Pollard 2
L P C Silva c Ramdin b Benn 11
J Mubarak c Sammy b Taylor 7
A D Mathews not out 12
Extras (lb 3, w 3) 6
Total (5 wkts, 20 overs) 158
I Udana, S L Malinga, M Muralitharan and B A W Mendis did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-73, 2-73, 3-77, 4-127, 5-134.
Bowling: Sammy 4-0-19-0; Taylor 4-0-31-1; Bravo 3-0-32-2; Benn 4-0-24-1; Gayle 3-0-35-0; Pollard 2-0-14-1.

West Indies
*C H Gayle not out 63
X M Marshall b Mathews 0
L M P Simmons b Mathews 0
D J Bravo b Mathews 0
S Chanderpaul lbw b Mendis 7
R R Sarwan c Mathews b Muralitharan 5
K A Pollard st Sangakkara b Muralitharan 3
†D Ramdin c Jayawardena b Udana 9
J E Taylor c sub b Muralitharan 2
D J G Sammy c Mubarak b Mendis 1
S J Benn b Malinga 0
Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 7, nb 1) 11
Total (17.4 overs) 101
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 4-43, 5-64, 6-75, 7-86, 8-95, 9-97.
Bowling: Mathews 4-0-16-3; Udana 3-0-20-1; Malinga 2.4-0-24-1; Mendis 4-0-9-2; Muralitharan 4-0-29-3.
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and R E Koertzen (South Africa).
TV umpire: D J Harper (Australia).
Match referee: A G Hurst (Australia).
Reserve umpire: A M Saheba (India).