Five things we learnt from the West Indies v Sri Lanka match

The West Indies faced up to the ‘might’ of the Sri Lankans in the Group 1 encounter at Bengaluru. The ‘might’, slowly but surely became ‘may’ as the Lankans crumbled to an embarrassing defeat. The Bengaluru faithful, however, made it a joyous occasion as they turned up in their numbers to support some of the IPL stars on the show. Although the match didn’t really produce the big hitting the Bengaluru crowds are used to, here are five things we learnt from the West Indies v Sri Lanka match.

1. Is this the worst Sri Lankan team?

I am not saying this for any other reason than their performance on the night. While it is agreed that the Tillakaratne Dilshan dismissal was a bit unlucky, the rest of the wickets claimed were completely courtesy of poor batting. The dismissals of Lahiru Thirimanne and Chamara Kapugedera are simply unacceptable at this level. To add to their misery, Chamara Kapugedera dropped the match when he dropped a dolly in the deep. Towards the end of the innings, Nuwan Kulasekara also dropped a sitter at long-on. These mistakes are simply inexcusable. One may well question the batting and fielding prowess of this Sri Lankan side.

2. Bengaluru loves Chris Gayle and he loves them straight back

‘We want Gayle’ clamored the Bangalore crowd. Despite the predicaments on and off the field, there was a loud cheer each time Gayle popped up on the big screen. With a wave from Gayle each time, the crowd cheers increased. An amazing sight. However, what was more breathtaking was Ian Gould’s small figure hand-cuffing Chris Gayle and taking him back to the dressing room. While it was done in a comedic sense, the crowd booed away Gould, who would have been no match for Chris Gayle by any means.

3. An uncertain wicket

It still startles me to this day that these are the types of wickets provided for an event of this magnitude. This is a World T20, a world cup of sorts. While the Sri Lankans lost most of their wickets to the pace of Carlos Brathwaite and Dwayne Bravo, the Lankans let loose a vicious spin attack on the Windies. The likes of Jeffrey Vandersay and Milinda Siriwardana are unplayable on this surface. An exciting competition between bat and ball, yet an uncertain pitch.

4. Aggression on such tracks helps

The Bangalore wicket has had a history of being a ‘belter’. However, this time, around, that wasn’t meant to be as the diabolical conditions ensured a low-scoring match. However, one thing was clear from the outset. Aggression from the very first delivery is important. Tillakaratne Dilshan, Andre Fletcher and Thisara Perera began their innings with a bang. Therefore, they went on to make their innings big.

5. Andre Fletcher: The toast of the town

No Gayle, no problem for the West Indies. Andre Fletcher, drafted into the squad for the tie made his presence felt. His unbeaten knock of 80 ensured that the Windies scaled the total set by the Sri Lankans with considerable ease. That said, Fletcher has now become the third favorite of the Bengaluru crowd.