Debutant Wellalage, Asalanka stun West Indies as Sri Lanka draw level
Sri Lanka's spinners picked up nine wickets as West Indies bundled out for 89 in chase of 163
Sri Lanka's spinners picked up nine wickets as West Indies bundled out for 89 in chase of 163
Scorer: Sudeep Poojar | Commentator: Fidel Fernando (@afidelf)
That's it from us folks. Join us in roughly 44 hours' time for the third Men's T20I. Right now there is a massively tense game going on at the T20 World Cup in Dubai too, so switch over to that and check it out.
Charith Asalanka: "It's an important win for us. The toss was very important. Luckily I won it. Even at the toss we though 160 or 170 was a par score. The openers set the foundation for us. Wellalage has experience in ODI cricket. He didn't look like a debutant to me."
Rovman Powell: "At the halfway stage we were confident we could get 160. But it wasn't really a cricket wicket. It wasn't a T20 wicket. But they used their conditions well. T20 cricket is about match-ups now, and I tried to bowl my left arm spinners to to their right handers. If we think about the third match as a final, we always back West Indies to win finals."
Nissanka is Player of the Match for his fifty: "It's a really hard wicket to bat on and I played to my strengths. We had targeted 160 right from the start. They only had one main spinner, and we wanted to cover his overs and we were able to do that. My leg is ok - it's just a cramp."
Saikrishna : "I guess West Indies would have lost first game as well if not for the rain, which might have made it easier to chase in the powerplay " I think WI were substantially the better team on that day, rain or not. They were just derailed in the powerplay in this game, on a used track. SL did well not to give Motie wickets too.
lunch: "I wish one positive word can be spoken for Nissanka, who was bullied as a liability half way through this match, but is one of the top contenders for POTM. Never judge too harshly until both teams have batted. " I'd give it to Wellalage myself, but yes, in retrospect both Nissanka and Kusal Mendis played good hands. Big shout out to Kusal Perera who crashed 24 off 16 from No. 3 too. Don't sleep on the cameos on these sorts of tracks.
West Indies have crumbled to a double-figure score, with the spinners - led by debutant Wellalage - doing the damage. He's just got that dynamism about his cricket doesn't he? It's just his first T20I game, but there is a tenacity there that suggests Wellalage is going to play many. many more matches in this format. His figures were a spectacular: 3 wickets for 9 runs from 4 overs. Theekshana, Hasaranga, and Asalanka took two apiece.
AS Joseph b Theekshana 16 (16m 10b 1x4 1x6) SR: 160.00
himash76: "i think Hasaranga needs to be dropped for yhe next game. His potency has seemed to have left him" Very harsh, Himash. Not quite the trump card he once was, but still a big player for SL I feel.
Sri Lanka's spinners picked up nine wickets as West Indies bundled out for 89 in chase of 163