Sri Lanka edges out Canada

Rizwan Cheema's defiance at the top of the Canada order failed to prevent Sri Lanka from recording a 15-run in the Twenty20 quadrangular series on Sunday.

Opener Cheema hit 68 off 44 balls - including four fours and six sixes - but Canada nevertheless fell short of Sri Lanka's total of 7-13 from its 20 overs.

Ajantha Mendis and Dilhara Fernando combined to help dismiss Canada for 138 after 20 overs, the former taking four wickets - including that of Cheema - and Fernando three.

Balaji Rao had done his best to stem Sri Lanka's scoring early on with three wickets but a series of solid cameos - the most effective of which came with Mahela Jayawardene's 35 off 21 balls - meant Canada was always facing a stiff task.

The Canadian batsmen failed to follow Cheema's example, with the hosts' second-highest score coming from Sunil Dhaniram, who hit 16.

Dilhara Lokuhettige joined Mendis and Fernando in ripping through the Canadian order - four of whom failed to register a run - by taking two wickets as Sri Lanka progressed to the final against Pakistan on Monday.

Canada will play Zimbabwe in the third-place play-off on the same day.

Sri Lanka Innings
Jayasuriya b Katchav 14 (17)
Mubarak run out Mulla 17 (19)
Jayawardene lbw b Balaji Rao 35 (21)
Kulatunga c Baidwan b Balaji Rao 11 (18)
Kandamby c Rizwan Cheema b Balaji Rao 0 (2)
Dilshan st Mulla b Dean 4 (8)
Weeraratne c Dhaniram b Dean 4 (8)
Dilhara not out 18 (9)
Kulasekara not out 19 (6)
Extras (b 4, lb 1, w 4) 9

Total 153 (7 wickets; 20 overs)

Did not bat: Fernando, Mendis

FoW: 1-26 (Jayasuriya, 4.2 ov), 2-56 (Mubarak, 7.5 ov), 3-78 (Jayawardene, 10.3 ov), 4-79 (Kandamby, 10.5 ov), 5-92 (Kulatunga, 14.2 ov), 6-106 (Weeraratne, 16.3 ov), 7-133 (Dilshan, 18.5 ov)

Bowling
Katchav 4-0-27-1 (1w)
Baidwan 4-0-44-0 (1w)
Rizwan Cheema 3-0-22-0
Balaji Rao 4-0-21-3 (2w)
Dhaniram 3-0-16-0
Dean 2-0-18-2

Canada Innings
Mulla c Weeraratne b Fernando 8 (5)
Rizwan Cheema c Weeraratne b Mendis 68 (43)
Mohammed Iqbal lbw b Fernando 1 (8)
Surkari lbw b Fernando 0 (1)
Dhaniram lbw b Mendis 16 (22)
David c Fernando b Mendis 14 (19)
Balaji Rao c Dilshan b Kulasekara 0 (2)
Jyoti not out 10 (8)
Baidwan lbw b Mendis 0 (2)
Katchav c Kandamby b Dilhara 0 (4)
Dean c Kandamby b Dilhara 7 (9)
Extras (b 1, lb 5, w 4, nb 4) 14

Total 138 (all out; 20 overs)

FoW: 1-9 (Mulla, 0.5 ov), 2-14 (Mohammed Iqbal, 2.3 ov), 3-14 (Surkari, 2.4 ov), 4-80 (Dhaniram, 10.1 ov), 5-105 (David, 14.4 ov), 6-107 (Balaji Rao, 15.2 ov), 7-121 (Rizwan Cheema, 16.3 ov), 8-122 (Baidwan, 16.6 ov), 9-124 (Katchav, 17.5 ov), 10-138 (Dean, 19.6 ov)

Bowling
Fernando 3-0-24-3 (2nb, 1w)
Kulasekara 4-0-23-1 (1nb)
Mendis 4-1-17-4
Weeraratne 3-0-29-0
Jayasuriya 4-0-33-0 (1w)
Dilhara 2-0-6-2 (2w)