By Srian Obeyesekere 

Sri Lanka was outplayed in the second T20 as well by the West Indies in the face of a batting onslaught by Andre Russell who clouted six sixes in a whirlwind unbeaten knock of 40 off just 14 balls in registering a comprehensive seven-wicket at the Pallekele International Stadium on Friday.

It was a relative stroll in the park for the West Indies with three overs to spare in chasing down Sri Lanka’s 155 for 6 wickets where the highest score was an unbeaten 31 off 24 balls by Dasun Shanaka inclusive of 3 boundaries batting at No.6 and a six while the next best contribution was 21 by Angelo Mathews who was run out. It was a disappointing dismissal of the veteran batsman after having worked himself into rhythm for the first time against the tourists in the ODI and T20 series’ on a day the Sri Lankan top order wilted against a concentrated West Indian bowling attack with Fabian Allen’s 2 for 24. 

It reflected the inability of the Sri Lankan batsman in mounting a match winning score after being put into bat by the West Indies. 

The  West Indies thus completed a fine 2-nil series triumph reaching 158 for 3 with Andre Russel coming in at No.4  blasting the Lankan bowling attack on a day skipper Lasith Malinga once again failed to deliver with the ball conceding 46 off 3 overs which underlined how dominative the West Indies batting was with opener Brandon King scoring 43 (21balls, 6×4, 2×6) and Shimron Hetmyer an unbeaten 43 off 42 with 3 boundaries. Russel capped the series in style winning both the Player of the Match and Series awards.

CHIEF SCORES:

Sri Lanka 155/6 20 overs Run rate: 7.75 (D. Shanaka n.o.31, A.D. Mathews 21, G.S.N..F.G. Jayasuriya 16, M.D.K.J. Perera 15, Allen 2/24)

West Indies 158/3 17 Overs Run rate 9.29 (B.A. King 43, S.O. Hetmyer n.o. 43, A.D. Russel n.o. 40, D. Shanaka 1/10, A.D. Mathews 1/26, C.B.R.L.S. Kumara 1/28)