Sri Lanka vs West Indies, 11th Match, Group C at Nottingham, Jun 10 2009 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Sri Lanka may have won but West Indies can take heart from their batting effort. 193 was a huge target given Sri Lanka's bowling might, and a Gayle-less West Indies did a decent job of the chase. Their fielding though was woeful, particularly in comparison with Sri Lanka's and that might well have been the difference between the two sides.

Sri Lanka's top order remains in supreme form, but one concern for them will be the lack of a finisher in their batting. However they won't be complaining about marching into the Super Eights with two wins in two.

There's a slew of feedback slamming the decision to award only a three and not a six. Charlie from the UK is one of those who thinks it's a good decision. "of course it wasn't a boundary, he was in the air and did brilliant, why punish great innovation by the fielder, he did everything within the rules so the decision was the correct one."

Post-match presentation

Ramdin: "We needed a good start, but we lost Fletcher early. We are looking forward to the Super Eights, we want to play hard cricket, and we would have liked to continue our winning ways. Gayle should be fit for the next game."

Sangakkara: "Jaysuriya is a genius, and with the help of Dilshan and the others we put on a big score. We would like to brush up on our fielding though."

Sanath Jayasuriya is the Man of the Match for his blazing 81.

Rich Jones from the UK helpfully sends in the relevant law for that "three/six" decision. "According to Law 32 of the MCC official laws, rule 32.4.b states

(b) 6 runs shall be scored if a fielder

(i) has any part of his person touching, or grounded beyond, the boundary when he catches the ball.

(ii) catches the ball and subsequently touches the boundary or grounds some part of his person over the boundary while carrying the ball but before completing the catch".

Vin from the UK: "I think, in this case, the third umprise should have seen whether the ball crossed an 'imaginany' vertical plane the bottom of which is the boundry line. I mean with all the technology available these days, it won't be that difficult." Someone else is asking us to imagine a fielder sitting in the stands (clearly illegal) who jumps in and stops a six. Clearly this debate is going out of hand.

I'm out of here. Sriram Veera is providing the commentary for the India-Ireland game, hop over there and ask him what he thinks. This is Siddarth Ravindran signing out.

Mathews switched to round the wicket

Ritwik N from the US: "I don't quite agree with that decision. What if a fielder ( knowing that the ball is going to go over the ropes ) decides instead to wait past boundary line and jump up and knock the ball back onto the field ??? Or even jump up and throw the ball to another fielder? would that be out?! "

Angelo Mathews to bowl the final over

Chris Giffard is furious with the Bravo 'not-a-six' ruling: "Of course that was a 6. What a stupid interpretation of the rules by the umpires. NOw we can have fielders in the stands, and as long as their feet are in the air, they can catch it and throw it back. What a lack of wisdom by the umpires."