Sri Lanka beat West Indies 2-1 in exciting T20I series , Nissanka shines

 


Sri Lanka is hosting West Indies in a round of white ball series . The T20I series at Dambulla has been just completed and in an exciting & entertaining duel , the hosts after losing the 1st game made a great comeback to win the series 2-1 .


West Indies chased down a formidable score in the 1st T20I . Sri Lanka  batting first put on a formidable 179/7 and the innings was built around a glorious 82 run stand between skipper Asalanka (59) and rising superstar Kamindu Mendis (51) after the top 3 wickets went relatively cheaply at 58/3 . Rajapaksa 's(17) cameo extended the total to 179 . However the West Indies were off to a blistering start with the openers putting on 107 in 9 overs . Brendon King scored a sparkling 63 in only 33 balls & Evin Lewis making a comeback after a big gap scoring  a belligerent 50 in 28 balls with 4 sixes . Though Shai Hope went cheaply , Chase, Rutherford & skipper Rovman Powell made tiny cameos to get the visitors over the line for a 5 wicket win with 5 balls to spare .



Stung by the reverse,  Sri Lanka fought back in style in the must win 2nd game as their spinners dominated the show . After Pathum Nissanka's glorious 49 ball 54 with assistance from Kusal Mendis (26) , Kusal Perera (24) and Kamindu Mendis (19) took Sri Lanka  to a challenging 162/5 , the much vaunted West Indies batting lineup simply collapsed to be 89 all out with only 3 players reaching double digits and Powell top scooring with 20.  Wellalage (3/9) was the chief destroyer with Theekshana , Hasaranga and Asalanka taking 2 wickets each as Sri Lanka roared back to square the series with a 73 run crushing win . 



The 3rd T20I became  a must win game and West Indies  batting first could get a modest 162/8 . The top order could not deliver much with King (23) the top contributer .It  was Rovman Powell (37) and Gudakesh Motie (32) who partnered to play some blistering shots to get the visitors to a respectable score as Hasaranga and Theekshana took 2 wickets apiece .


Sri Lanka were off to a blistering  start as both Nissanka (39 off 18 balls ) and Kusal Mendis ( 68* off 50 balls ) played breathtaking  shots and then Kusal Parera (55* off 36 ) playing typically sparkling shots to take Sri Lanka  comfortably over the line for a 9 wicket win with 12 balls remaining  to win the T20I series . Nissanka was the player of the series while Kusal Mendis was the player of the final game . 


The 2 teams will next play a 3 match ODI series .

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