Lasith Malinga, playing his first World Cup match, made an immediate difference to his team's fortunes by helping his team trounce Kenya by nine wickets in today's World Cup match played at Colombo.

Chasing an easy target of 143 to win, Sri Lanka romped home with nearly 32 overs to spare, losing a solitary wicket of Dilshan in the process.Lankan openers began their chase in the right earnest fashion, caressing the Kenyan attack to shreds as 72 runs came in just 8 overs. After losing fellow opener Tilakratne Dilshan for a quickfire 44 in 30 balls,Upul Tharanga stayed put till the end to deny any further breakthrough for Kenya. The opener made an undefeated 67. Fast Bowler Otieno was the lone wicket taker for Kenya.  

Kenya, after having won the toss, elected to bat first. However, Kenya Captan decision backfired as the openers Ouma, Waters  fell in no time to Malinga and Kulasekhara in the second over itself. This made the leg-spin all-rounder Collins Obuya combine with the wicket keeper-batsman David Obuya and the pair added substantial 94 runs for the third wicket. Both made painstaking half-centries with the former getting out for 52 whereas the latter contributed 51 runs to the team's score. With barely recognizing batters in its lower order, the Kenyan team quickly folded up at 142.

Speedster Malinga's powerful yorkers earned him the second hat-trick in the world cup history, thereby enabling him to collect a rich haul of 6/38.

Hat-trick Hero Lasith Malinga was declared Man-of-the-Match for his grand wicket tally.

Sri Lanka next meets the defending champions Aus in a crucial tie on 5th March at the same venue while the African minnows are scheduled to play their next league match against Canada on 7th March at Delhi.