West Indies defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets in the maiden Twenty20 International at Dambulla. The two players who stole the show were Evin Lewis (50) and Brandon King (63), who combined for 107 runs for the first wicket while chasing 179. The hosts’ quick fifties from Kamindu Mendis and Charith Asalanka proved to be in vain.
Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, who were put into bat, were cautious initially, scoring just 11 runs in the first two overs. In the third over, Nissanka quickly picked up pace, hitting consecutive boundaries off Romario Shepherd.
However, he stole the next ball from Shai Hope. Although Kusal Perera set a boundary correctly, Shamar Joseph later castled him.
He got off the mark with a pull to the boundary, bringing man-in-form Kamindu Mendis to the crease. The Lankans stormed to 54 for 2 in the PowerPlay thanks to four fours and a six from Kusal off Alzarri Joseph and two boundaries each from Kamindu in the following over.
In the next over, Kusal was bowled off by Gudakesh Motie after Kusal missed a cut ball during a quiet delivery from Roston Chase.
After Kamindu struck three boundaries in the twelfth over, Charith Asalanka came out, and together, they carried the attack back to the West Indies. Kamindu maintained his excellent streak by scoring his second T20I 50.
However, the batter was pulled out of the deep soon after. Asalanka reached his 50 in the same over and added two more fours. But he was out of the game after skiing one to deep midwicket. With a cameo of 17 off 10, Bhanuka Rajapaksa led Sri Lanka to a challenging 179 for 7.
West Indies led the chase with a foreboding air. Chamindu Wickramasinghe was destroyed by Evin Lewis, who hit a six and a four. At the other end, King appeared combative as he hit three boundaries off Asitha Fernando. To know more about cricket updates, create a BetPro account.
After reaching a fifty-run partnership in 4.4 overs, West Indies raced to 74 for 0 in the PowerPlay after a costly 16-run sixth over. King hit a six and a four off Pathirana to bring up his fifty.
In the subsequent over, his partner overtook him with two enormous sixes off Hasaranga. In the next over, the left-hander eventually gave up to a low catch at backward point.
With the swift dismissals of Shai Hope and King in the space of two overs, Sri Lanka was able to recover. Rookies Chase and Rovman Powell broke up the onslaught, and the scoring pace decreased.
West Indies scored two boundaries in the 12-run over during a pivotal 16th. Powell’s stale innings ended when Chase nicked one behind Pathirana and caught him in the deep.
West Indies ran their twos hard when they needed 13 off 12 balls, and with four balls remaining, Sherfane Rutherford sealed the victory with a boundary.
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Quick Scores: West Indies 180/5 in 19.1 overs (Brandon King 63, Evin Lewis 50; Matheesha Pathirana 2-27, Kamindu Mendis 1-14) defeated Sri Lanka 179/7 in 20 overs (Charith Asalanka 59, Kamindu Mendis 51; Romario Shepherd 2-39, Gudakesh Motie 1-16).
Kheloyaar
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