Fletcher remained unbeaten on 84. © Getty
Asked to bat first, Sri Lanka could only manage 122 for the loss of nine wickets. Angelo Mathews's side made West Indies stretch a bit but Darren Sammy's team managed to get over the line with seven wickets in hand and 10 deliveries to spare to be perched firmly atop the Group 1 table.
Fletcher, who was brought in for Jerome Taylor, began in Hulk-mode, an inside-edge helping him get off the mark with a four off Angelo Mathews, before smashing the Sri Lankan captain over the sight screen. Rangana Herath received similar treatment from the stand-in opener, even as chants of "we want Gayle, we want Gayle..." echoed around the stadium.
Meanwhile, Johnson Charles had a lucky break as Chamara Kapugedera dropped a simple catch running in from deep mid-wicket to deny a wicket to Jeffrey Vandersay, the leg-break bowler who replaced Shehan Jayasuriya for this game. The miss, however, did not prove to be too costly as Charles was bowled in the final over of powerplay by the leg-spinner, who made it a wicket-maiden to help Sri Lanka pull things back.
Marlon Samuels did not have a productive outing, an ill-advised trot down the track on a turning wicket bringing about his downfall, as Sri Lanka exerted more pressure on West Indies with a few more tight overs, with Herath completing his quota by the end of the 10th over. Three overs later, Fletcher registered his fifth Twenty20 International fifty before Denesh Ramdin was bowled by Siriwardana. What followed was some drama as Gayle looked set to walk out to the middle, only to be stopped by the fourth umpire, Ian Gould, because his time off the field during the first innings, meant that he had to wait longer for his turn to bat.
Fletcher, unperturbed by all the events, smacked Siriwardana for two consecutive sixes while Andre Russell, the one who actually came at the fall of Ramdin's wicket, scored a four to get off the mark. There was further drama when Fletcher got an outside edge off Dushmantha Chameera and the third umpire's assistance was sought. Replays revealed that Dinesh Chandimal had taken the ball on the bounce, giving Fletcher an extended stay while Gayle, who was looking to come out, had to turn back again. Russell, who was put down by Kulasekara, finished it off in style with a six off Thisara Perera in the 19th over.
Earlier, with a six and a four off consecutive deliveries in the opening over off Russell, Tillakaratne Dilshan continued from where he left off in the previous match and looked set to do a lot of damage again. However, he was unfortunate to be adjudged leg-before off Carlos Brathwaite - replays revealing that the ball was clearly missing the stumps. Chandimal got off to a promising start after Dwayne Bravo's wayward throw gave him a lucky break in the opening over. Even as West Indies were juggling their bowlers, introducing as many as four in the first four overs in their attempt to unsettle the Sri Lankan batsmen, Chandimal was indecisive with his running between the wickets. That cost him dear as he took off for a non-existent single, only to be sent back by Lahiru Thirimanne, and a sharp throw from Johnson Charles made the job easy for keeper Ramdin.
Russell, meanwhile, was not having a great time with the ball, conceding a boundary apiece to Thirimanne and Kapugedera, as Sri Lanka maintained a run-rate of over eight at the end of the Powerplay. Badree, on the other hand, had bowled a couple of tight overs, and he reaped the reward in his third over when Thirimanne sliced one to Andre Fletcher at point. Sammy decided to bowl Badree out and the move paid rich dividends as the leg-spinner sent back Kapugedera and Siriwardana in the space of four deliveries - stumped and an edge to first slip being the mode of dismissals - to finish with excellent figures, which automatically had a bearing on Sri Lanka's scoring rate.
Operating Bravo and Sulieman Benn in tandem, West Indies sneaked in a few frugal overs while Mathews and Perera went about the rebuilding process. The Sri Lankan batsmen were unable to find a boundary for 43 deliveries before Perera thumped one straight back over the non-striker's head when Russell was re-introduced into the attack. Another straight drive off a Benn full-toss yielded Perera his second four and it was about time Sri Lanka got a move on - despite the two boundaries, the run-rate was below six at the end of the 15th over. Benn, who also completed his spell, did not pick up any wicket, but had ensured that the batsmen were kept on a tight leash as he conceded only 13.
Mathews, who was struggling in this outing, departed in a bizarre manner, giving Bravo his first wicket. The Lankan captain, who was well out of the crease, misjudged a full-toss when he went down on one knee, to top-edge the ball to the keeper. The third umpire was pressed into action to check for the height, before Mathews headed back. Sri Lanka, who had managed only 94 runs with three overs remaining in the innings, needed Perera to turn on the defibrillator to give some life to the innings. He managed to do that in the 18th over, which yielded 16 runs. However, Sri Lanka lost more wickets - Russell dismissing Kulasekara, Herath getting run out before Perera got out to Bravo - as Sri Lanka just about managed to cross 120, a total that proved to be insufficient.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 122-9 in 20 overs (Thisara Perera 40, Angelo Mathews 20; Samuel Badree 3-12, Dwayne Bravo 2-20) lost to West Indies 127-3 in 18.2 overs (Andre Fletcher 84*, Andre Russell 20*; Milinda Siriwardana 2-33, Jeffrey Vandersay 1-11) by seven wickets. source cricbuzz
0 মন্তব্য(গুলি):
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন