Good, pleasant conditions out in the middle. It is a dry pitch. The grass on the pitch is present to hold the pitch together, with the cracks opening up. The hardness will allow the batters to hit boundaries early on. 145-150 is what Powell thinks is a good sore, should you get that batting first, it should be enough
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Venue Details
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
Good, pleasant conditions out in the middle. It is a dry pitch. The grass on the pitch is present to hold the pitch together, with the cracks opening up. The hardness will allow the batters to hit boundaries early on. 145-150 is what Powell thinks is a good sore, should you get that batting first, it should be enough
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As Asalanka gathers the winners' trophy and walks over to his teammates to celebrate and pose for photos, we wrap our coverage of the three-match T20I series between Sri Lanka and the West Indies. There's a three-match One Day International series coming up between these two sides - the first of which will be played this Sunday at Pallekele. Join us right here on Sportskeeda for our coverage of that, and in the meantime, keep an eye on our page for a whole lot more! This is Rajarshi Das, signing off on behalf of Lavil Saldanha. Good night!
Charith Asalanka, Sri Lanka captain: The top-order guys batted really well, that helped the team in winning the series. The team needed some momentum, they got it in the second game and kept it going. When they scored more than 160, was tough, but our top-order batted well. The plan of starting quickly was from the openers. I'm really happy, always good to win a series, I would like to thank every fan of Sri Lanka, thank you very much for supporting us.
Rovman Powell, West Indies captain: We had enough runs, if at the start of the game we said we'd have 160 on such a turning wicket we'd take it. Credit to the Sri Lankans. they played great throughout the series. If we'd controlled the powerplay better as a bowling unit we'd make a game of it. Getting 60-70 in the powerplay, it is tough to come back. Sri Lankan spinners completely outbowled our spinners, was a matter of who bowled better as a spin group. It's a lot of positives when you come to Sri Lanka and push them in unfamiliar conditions. Having said that, guys gave good effort, our fast bowlers gave good effort on these tracks. As a batting group, guys showed they can bat spin. Thanks to the people of Sri Lanka, they have been really good to us as a touring team. Not often you go to different places and have a good experience.
Pathum Nissanka is the Player of the Series. Here is what he has to say: He had a plan going in the powerplay and he and Kusal Mendis planned to take the spinners on. He said he had a very clear mind playing across formats (Translated from Sinhala)
Kusal Mendis is the Player of the Match. Here is what he has to say: Happy with my innings, Pathum played well in the first six overs which allowed me to play my natural game. There was some turn and the pitch was a bit slow. West Indies had only three spinners so after them, the pacers were easy to tackle
Pathum Nissanka set the tone for Sri Lanka - right from the word go at that. Fabian Allen was looking to turn the new ball square, Nissanka managed to find the boundary thrice in the first over itself, albeit in three different fashions. He seemed more comfortable dispatching Alzarri Joseph's short stuff the following over, taking 15 off it, and Kusal Mendis joined in on the fun soon after.
Sri Lanka had a total of 60 on the board within the first five overs itself. The West Indies were in desperate need of an opening and then some more - Motie provided them with the breakthrough, getting one to skid past Nissanka and crash onto the sticks. Kusal Mendis, then joined by Kusal Perera, proceeded to maneuver the chase rather deftly, finding the odd boundary every other over across the middle stages.
Roston Chase did a decent job in containing both Kusals in his four overs - he got the ball to turn considerably, and was a bigger threat with his straighter ones, particularly for the left-handed Perera. But the West Indies just weren't able to break through any further - the boundaries kept coming - particularly off pace as Kusal Perera got in on the act, and soon enough, Sri Lanka needed their runs at about a run-a-ball.
It was a matter of formality going into the last five overs. Mendis, Perera both got their half-centuries, stitched up a 100-run partnership for the second wicket, and the game was done and dusted with two overs to spare. Presentations to follow....
10:11 P.M. Local Time and IST: As comprehensive as they get! Clinical, simply clinical from Sri Lanka - this pair of Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera hardly gave the West Indies a sniff of a comeback. Dambulla is up on its feet - they sure were dished out a treat tonight!
18
overs
166/1score
2
4
1
1wd
0
1
4
runs
Kusal Perera*
55(36)
Kusal Mendis
68(50)
Alzarri Joseph
0/38
17.6 Alzarri Joseph to Kusal Perera, FOUR! SRI LANKA WIN THE MATCH AND SERIES! Back of a length delivery on the leg stump, Perera gets onto his backfoot and pulls it away towards deep backward square leg for a boundary to end the game and seal the series. Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 9 wickets and win the series 2-1
17.5 Alzarri Joseph to Kusal Mendis, low full toss on the line outside the off stump. Mendis knocks it down the ground for a single. Scores are level!
17.4 Alzarri Joseph to Kusal Mendis, length delivery outside the off stump. Mendis is beaten for his off stump. No run
17.4 Alzarri Joseph to Kusal Mendis, full and wide down the legside. Joseph errs with his line and concedes a wide
Fifty for Perera, a hundred-run stand for the second wicket - this has been nothing short of dominance from the hosts.
17.3 Alzarri Joseph to Kusal Perera, full and on the leg stump. Clipped towards midwicket for a single
17.2 Alzarri Joseph to Kusal Perera, FOUR! 50 FOR KUSAL PERERA! Full and on the pads, Perera flicks that one off his boot and sends it racing away to the fine leg fence for a boundary
17.1 Alzarri Joseph to Kusal Perera, full toss outside the off stump. Perera hits it towards deep midwicket for a brace
Alzarri Joseph (2-0-25-0) is back into the attack
Right - 10 needed off the last three. Might end within these next six deliveries, you'd think....
17
overs
153/1score
1
4
0
3
4
1
runs
Kusal Perera*
44(32)
Kusal Mendis
67(48)
Romario Shepherd
0/24
16.6 Romario Shepherd to Kusal Perera, length delivery on the line of the off stump. Perara hits that one back down the ground for a single