Jayawardene powers Lanka to 135

Guyana, Apr 30: A gutsy effort by Mahela Jayawardene helped Sri Lanka set a defendable score of 135 in the opening encounter of the World Twenty-20 against New Zealand here on Friday.
The seasoned batsman from the island nation adjusted well with the slowness of the wicket and hit eight fours and two sixes in his innings of 81 off 51 after Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and decided to set a target for the opposition.
Debutant Dinesh Chandimal contributed with 29 off 23 and shared an invaluable 58-run partnership for the third wicket with the former skipper.
For the Kiwis Shane Bond picked up two wickets in the last over of the innings while Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris and Tim Southee chipped in with a wicket each.
Earlier, Jayawardene continued his good form he showed in the IPL by hitting a six off Bond over the square-leg boundary and followed it up with a crisp shot in the off side off Nathan McCullum.
Tillakaratne Dilshan started sensibly, giving the strike to his in-form opening partner Jayawardene, who hit two more fours off Bond.
But Kiwi bowlers got the reward for bowling in the right areas when Dilshan finally gave in after scoring 3 off 19 deliveries. He was cleaned up by Oram in the sixth over.
With score 40/1 after seven overs, the experienced pair of Sangakkara and Jayawardene seemed to have gauged the slowness of the wicket and set a target in the range of 140 for the Black Caps to chase.
Styris gave another blow to the Lankan side, hitting the stumps of Sangakkara (4 off 11).
Chandimal, the highest run-getter in Sri-Lankan domestic circuit, broke free by hitting a six off Styris over long-on but holed out to Ross Taylor while trying the same shot off McCullum. Taylor took a brilliant catch with a well-timed jump to send the 20-year-old back in the hut.
Jayawardene got out trying to clear the boundary off Southee. And with the wicket of Chamara Kapugedara (11 off 10), Lankan innings finished at 135/6.