Is Sri Lanka cheating their way to T20 finals? Or just playing smart

Sri Lanka are riding on a crest of a wave and have everything going for them in their quest to become the first host nation to become World Twenty20 champions.

Having been written off by yours truly as a team capable of battling for the title after their debacle in a rain-shortened group match against South Africa at Hambantota, Sri Lanka have astounded even their most ardent critics with some smart cricket both on and off the field.

Mahela Jayawardena has been leading the side from the front even overshadowing his opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan with his innovative strokeplay and consistency with the bat.

Perhaps his smartest move yet has been to hand over the captain's armband officially to former skipper Kumar Sangakkara in the final Super Eight match against England on Monday, to escape missing the big games after being warned for maintaining a slow over-rate in the previous game.

It showed Sri Lanka's capacity to think out of the box to tackle a delicate situation without breaking the rules of the game.

Even England skipper Stuart Broad gave his rival a pat on the back.

"It's quite a clever use of the system. They (Sri Lanka) can't afford to lose Mahela Jayawardena for a World Cup semifinal. It's just a sneaky way to get past the ICC," he said.

"It's tough to bowl 20 overs in one hour 20 minutes in a tournament like this.

“We try our best but the penalties are little harsh. We don't want to miss out on the big games. We did it with the right intentions," he added.

Vice-captain Angelo Mathews was also under the radar because he had been landed for the same offence when he captained against Pakistan in Hambantota in an earlier match.

"If he gets nailed in the next six months he misses a game as well. We had to find somebody who did not have the rap sheet and Kumar (Sangakkara) fitted the bill," said Jayawardena.

"I don't think we tried to be funny. It was just an honest way of trying to get away with a situation which we didn't want to be in," he stressed.

"Our intentions were not bad. Obviously I had a warning for the last match because of over rate issue. If I get penalised again I missed a match," explained Jayawardena who credited team manager Charith Senanayake for the decision.

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