Sabbir Hossain :
Reigning champions West Indies and mighty Sri Lanka will face each other today (Thursday) in the first semifinal of the ICC World Twenty20 Cricket at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. The match begins at 7.00 pm BST (Bangladesh Standard Time).
State-owned television channel Bangladesh Television, private satellite channels Maasranga Television, G TV will broadcast the match live from the stadium. Sri Lanka emerged the Group 1 champions securing six points from four matches while West Indies became Group 2 runners-up collecting six points from as many outings.
In the Group 1 matches, Sri Lanka edged past South Africa by five runs, crushed Netherlands by nine wickets, eased past New Zealand by 59 runs and lost to England by six wickets.
On the other hand, in the Group 2 matches, West Indies thrashed Pakistan by 84 runs, overpowered Australia by six wickets, defeated Bangladesh by 73 runs and lost to India by seven wickets.
Sri Lanka have pacer like Lasith Malinga, spinners like Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis, those who can do anything any time.
Sri Lanka have a strong batting side. Opener Kusal Perera, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Thisara Perera are now in a good form.
On the other hand, West Indies have Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Lendl Simmons, who are really dependable batsmen.
West Indies have world class spinner Sunile Narin, who can turn a match in favour of his side.
It may be mentioned that India will face South Africa tomorrow (Friday) in the second semifinal at the same venue. The match starts at 7.00 pm.
