Home team West Indies made a strong comeback in the third and final T20I of the T20I series against Sri Lanka to win the series by 2-1. Courtesy of Pollard’s six sixes, Windies won the first T20I while spinners helped Sri Lanka square the series in the second T20I. With a 3-wicket victory in the final match of the series, West Indies take the series.
Having opted to bat first, Sri Lanka failed to gain momentum with three wickets falling inside the mandatory powerplay. Dinesh Chandimal (54*) and Ashen Bandara (44*) shared an unbeaten 85*-run stand for the fifth wicket to take them to a par total at this venue – 131/4 in 20 overs. Windies spinner Fabian Allen was the pick of the bowlers with bowling figures of 1/13 in his 4 overs.
Chasing 132 to win, West Indies couldn’t make a big impact with the bat. The required run-rate kept on climbing with each wicket falling. However, Fabian Allen once again came to the rescue of hosts, who smashed an unbeaten 21* runs off just 6 deliveries towards the end to take them home with 3 wickets in hand and an over to spare. Sri Lankan spinner Akila Dananjaya was once again expensive having conceded 53 runs from his 4 overs without a wicket.
Fabian Allen has been adjudged as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his all-round performance with both bat and ball. He scored 21 runs off just 6 deliveries and conceded 13 runs in his 4 overs while picking up a wicket. With this, the 3-match T20I series comes to an end with hosts West Indies winning it by 2-1. The 3-match ODI series will kick off on Wednesday (Mar 10). All the 3 ODIs will be played at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
Brief Scores: West Indies – 134/7 in 19 overs (Lendl Simmons – 26, Nicholas Pooran – 23, Lakshan Sandakan – 3/29, Wanindu Hasaranga – 2/13) defeated Sri Lanka -131/4 in 20 overs (Dinesh Chandimal – 54*, Ashen Bandara – 44*, Fabian Allen – 1/13, Kevin Sinclair – 1/19) by a margin of 3 wickets
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