West Indies brush aside Sri Lanka to win first T20I

Kamindu Mendis scored a 39-ball 51 for Sri Lanka

Player of the Match Jason Holder picked up two wickets in two balls

• Hope and Holder the match-winners

West Indies skipper Shai Hope hits one down the ground during his knock of 65*

JAMAICA: On a rare rain-free day West Indies easily brushed aside Sri Lanka in the T20 series opener at Sabina Park, Kingston on Thursday to win by seven wickets to go one-up in the three-match series.

Although the match ended only in the final over, it was won in the last 5 overs of the Sri Lankan innings and during the batting power play of the West Indies innings. Just 25 runs were conceded in the last 5 overs, and West Indies plundered 66 in the first 6 overs.

An easy win was on the cards for the West Indies, but Sri Lanka never gave up. They dug deep and took the game into the final over. When Shimron Hetmyer was dismissed for 17, West Indies needed 53 more runs off 65 balls, but Sri Lanka squeezed the run-rate. Shai Hope didn’t find the boundaries and Roston Chase got stuck against spin. Hope however, stayed till the end, found the occasional boundaries to score 65* off 54 balls (5 fours, 2 sixes) and Rovman Powell finished the match with a massive six off Dilshan Madushanka.

For Sri Lanka, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana were economical, but the team needed more wickets from them. West Indies who lost the ODI series here after the last two matches were washed out, have started the T20I series well and will hope to wrap up the series with the second T20I scheduled at the same venue for Saturday.

Sri Lanka surprisingly opted to bat first despite the weather in the region over the last few days being dicey. Pathum Nissanka kick-started the innings with a boundary each in the first two overs before Kusal Mendis exploded with back-to-back sixes off Matthew Forde. But Player of the Match Jason Holder immediately applied the brakes on the scoring rate by first castling Nissanka before dismissing new man Lasith Croospulle lbw first ball.

Sri Lanka were then dealt another blow when Pavan Rathnayake was caught in the deep by Hetmyer as they finished the Powerplay at 56-3. Kusal Mendis kept going after the bowling despite the flurry of wickets and his intent cost him his wicket as well (36 off 23 balls, 2 fours, 3 sixes) with Shamar Joseph adding to his wicket-tally. Kamindu Mendis started off slowly before getting into his groove and he and Dasun Shanaka revived the innings with a stand of 59 off 48 balls. After 15 overs, Sri Lanka were still well placed at 122-4. However, the innings took a disastrous turn. Kamindu hit a fighting fifty – 51 off 39 balls (4 fours, 2 sixes) but wickets continued to fall at the other end and Sri Lanka just couldn’t get any momentum whatsoever. Eventually, they made just 25 runs at the death to finish with 147-9.

The contest was pretty much done and dusted when West Indies knocked off 66 runs in just the power play alone with both batters Brandon King and Hope looking in great nick. King, who had hammered three sixes, was bowled by Hasaranga, but in the same over, Hetmyer smashed the spinner for a four and a six to maintain his side’s stronghold. Eshan Malinga, who had a fantastic IPL, couldn’t break through despite keeping it tight but at the other end boundaries continued to flow. Hasaranga struck again but by then West Indies had raced to 97-2 at the halfway mark.

After the drinks break, the boundaries dried up completely for the next four overs before Hope brought up his half-century with a reverse sweep. Chase endured a torrid time out in the middle, batting on 10 off 24 at one stage before finally breaking the shackles with a six. After Malinga put an end to his misery, West Indies got the job done in the final over of the contest.