SL hammer record 260

Johannesburg, Spetember 14:

Sri Lanka scored 260-6, — the highest ever score in a Twenty20 international — and Kenya replied with 88 to lose by a record margin of 172 runs.

Sri Lanka smashed the record previously held by Australia who scored 221-5 against England in January.

Jehan Mubarak hit an undefeated 46 for Sri Lanka off only 13 balls including three fours and five sixes. Opener Sanath Jayasuriya scored 88 off 44 balls, and captain Mahela Jayawardene got 65 off 27.

In reply, Kenya scored 88-9 with injured bowler Thomas Odoyo not batting. Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga and Tillekeratne Dilshan took two wickets each. Kenya are now out of the tournament.

Aus Vs England

CAPE TOWN: Australia bounced back from the embarrassment of defeat against Zimbabwe to crush England by eight wickets. Needing a win to advance past the group stage Australia produced an emphatic performance, bowling out England for 135 and then racing to victory in 14.5 overs. Nathan Bracken and Mitch Johnson took three wickets each as Australia kept a tight clamp on the England batsmen.

Australian opening batsmen Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden shared a stroke-filled opening stand of 78 in 8.1 overs before Gilchrist was caught at long-on off leg-spinner Chris Schofield. Gilchrist made 45 off 27 balls. Hayden mad an unbeaten 67 off 43 balls. The result meant that Australia topped the group, with England also going through to the Super Eight stage on net run rate ahead of Zimbabwe. All three teams won one match.

England were tied down early by the Australian bowlers, with Johnson bowling a tight first spell of two for 14 off three overs to put pressure on the top order. He finished with three for 22. Bracken was taken out of the attack after conceding eight runs in his first over but came back strongly to finish with three for 16 off four overs, earning the man of the match award.

Andrew Flintoff was England’s top scorer with 31 off 19 balls but England were unable to put together any significant partnerships. England were only able to score 52 runs in the first nine overs, losing three wickets. Kevin Pietersen and captain Paul Collingwood briefly threatened to shift the balance towards England, putting on 25 in three overs before Collingwood was leg before to Brett Lee shortly after slogging a six from a free hit after Lee bowled a no-ball.

Flintoff and Owais Shah both hit sixes off off-spinner Andrew Symonds in the space of three balls but both fell in quick succession to Johnson and Stuart Clark.

At Durban on Thursday, bad weather forced the match between India and Scotland to be abandoned without a ball being bowled. Both teams were awarded one point each.