Abu Dhabi: Defending champions West Indies were shown the exit doors of the ICC World T20 after Sri Lanka beat them convincingly by 20 runs in Super 12, Group 1 in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Chasing a mammoth 190, the might Caribbeans never looked in shape with only Nicolas Pooran(46) and Shiron Hetmyer(81*) being the batters to score in double digits.
Chris Gayle got dismissed in the second over for just a single while skipper Kieron Pollard went home for a first-ball duck. The duo of Pooran and Hetmyer looked good from the start and were slowly picking up the pace until Dushmanta Chameera guided him towards the pavilion’s way in the 12 th over.
Wanindu Hasaranga(2/19) topped the Lankan bowling charts while Mahesh Theeksana despite going wicketless bowled a tight spell. With the asking rate skyrocketing, Hetmyer alone started the onslaught although his side left too much to do in later parts of the game.
Earlier, Sri Lanka rode on the knocks of Charith Asalnka(68) and Pathum Nissanka(51) to post 189 on the board. The Lankans lost the Kusal Perera(29) in the last over of the powerplay after getting a breezy start to the innings. Asalanka joined hands in the rebuilding with Nissanka before stitching 91 runs setting the tone up for a big score. Nissanka departed in the 16th over after failing to judge the length of Dwayne Bravo’s delivery miscuing it to find Hetmyer. Skipper Dasun Shanaka added a late flourish hammering an unbeaten 14 ball 25 to ensure his side posted a strong total on the board.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 189/3 in 20 overs (Charith Asalanka 68, Pathum Nissanka 51; Andre Russell 2/32) beat West Indies 169/8 in 20 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 81*, Nicolas Pooran 46; Wanindu Hasaranga 2/19) by 20 runs.
