Sri Lanka v West Indies World T20 – 5 Talking Points

Sri Lanka and West Indies clashed in the Group A encounter at Bengaluru. Both the teams had one win under their belt. While Sri Lanka had a shaky win against Afghanistan, West Indies blew away English bowling in their previous game. Coming in to the match, both teams had the opportunity to fortify their position in the top spot of their group.

Having won the toss, West Indies opted to bowl. Sri Lanka had a struggling start and then could never recover. West Indies spinners were spot on with their line and lengths and gave absolutely nothing away. None among the top 5 could cross the 20 run mark, with skipper Mathews scoring 20 runs. It was ThisaraPerera’s knock that was the saving grace in the Lankan line up that took them to a decent total.

The West Indies run chase began with a surprise as there was no Chris Gayle seen opening the innings. However, his replacement Andre Fletcher played remarkably well to see West Indies home by 7 wickets. He carried his bat through the innings and remained unbeaten on 84. For the Sri Lankans, JeffereyVandersay did spring up a glimmer of hope during the middle overs but was not backed up by any other bowler.

1. West Indies Spinners

The West Indies spinners made the most of the conditions at Bengaluru. Samuel Badree came in to bowl in the powerplay and made it very difficult for the Sri Lanka batsmen to score. Badree, who is renowned for bowling with precision in the powerplays, has a career economy of under 6. Badree got rid of Kapugedara and Thirimanne cheaply and rocked the Sri Lanka middle order. Badree returned with figures of 3/12 in his four overs. Sulieman Benn, the other spinner in the side bowled well too. He could not get a wicket but was miser in his bowling. He gave away just 13 runs in his spell of 4 overs.

2. Perera’s Knock

There was absolutely nothing to talk about in the Sri Lanka batting line up. None of the batsmen could pose any threat to the West Indies bowling. It was all down to the veteran all-rounder ThisaraPerera to take his side to some respectable score. Perera came in to bat in the 9^th over and was dismissed in the last over. He scored a key 40 off 29 balls. His innings was studded with 5 boundaries and a six. He was the top scorer for Sri Lanka in their innings that ended on 122/9 in 20 overs. Undoubtedly there is a lot to ponder for the Sri Lanka think tank. Had there not been Perera’s knock, they would have been in some serious trouble.

3. NO Chris Gayle at the top order

The Bengaluru fans must have certainly been disappointed when they couldn’t see Chris Gayle out to open the innings. Andre Fletcher and Johnson Charles opened the innings for West Indies during their run chase of 122 runs. Chris Gayle, the big hitting batsman who calls Bengaluru his second home, didn’t come out to bat due to a hamstring injury that he sustained during fielding earlier in the day. The West Indies team management confirmed that Gayle would bat only if required. Thankfully for the Caribbean side, they did not require his services. Andre Fletcher more than just covered up for the absence of the big Jamaican.

4. Vandersay’s Spell

The 26-year-old leg spinner, JeffereyVandersay, was added to the Sri Lanka squad following the injury to their key bowler and T20 skipper LasithMalinga. Vandersay got a place in the playing eleven straightaway and the move to include him in the side paid rich dividends. The Sri Lankan side had very few positives to take from the game but the one big positive was Vandersay’s spell. Just when Fletcher started taking the game away from Lankans, Vandersay got them their first breakthrough by dismissing Johnson Charles. He kept things tight from one end and Sri Lanka suddenly had a grip over the ever-increasing run rate. Vandersay bowled 4 overs and ended with figures of 1/11 with a miserly economy rate of 2.75.

5. Fletcher plays the Anchor role

The Chinnaswamy wicket is known for producing high-scoring games. But when the Sri Lankan team could manage just 122 on the board, there were speculations that the wicket might not be the usual one. West Indies’ stand-in opener Andre Fletcher, however, seemed to be batting on a different wicket altogether. Fletcher found the middle of the bat with ease and hit the ball cleanly. Fletcher brought up his half century and knew that the job wasn’t done yet. He carried hit bat through the innings to see West Indies register their 2^nd straight win in the tournament. Fletcher played a dominating anchor knock of 84 runs that came off 64 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes. He was aptly supported by Andre Russell who finished off the match with a maximum.