T20 World Cup 2021: Sri Lanka plays spoilsport by defeating Windies by 20 runs, dents its semis hopes
Sri Lanka came up with a rock-solid performance to outplay Windies by 20 runs in the Super 12 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. With this, Windies hopes of qualifying for the semis have been dented.
FollowFormer champion Sri Lanka turned out to be the ultimate party spoiler. It beat defending champion Windies by 20 runs in Group 1's Super 12 stage of the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. With this loss, Windies hopes of qualifying for the semis have ended, while Lanka was already out of contention.
FULL SCORECARD: ICCÂ T20 World Cup 2021, Windies vs Sri Lanka (Super 12)
Winning the toss, Windies skipper Kieron Pollard opted to bowl, as he fielded the same XI. At the same time, Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka made a change by bringing in Binura Fernando for Lahiru Kumara. Lanka lost an early wicket in the form of Kusal Perera (29), who was caught and bowled by pacer Andre Russell in the sixth over, with 42 runs on the board.
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However, fellow opener Pathum Nissanka (51) and Charith Asalanka (68) put on a 91-run stand for the second wicket before the former fell to pacer Dwayne Bravo in the 16th, right after scoring his second T20I half-century. Asalanka and Shanaka (25*) put on 46 runs more before the former departed to Russell in the 19th after scoring his maiden T20I 50.
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Nevertheless, Shanaka and Chamika Karunaratne (3) batted until the end to help Lanka post a respectable total of 189/3. While the Windies used seven bowlers, Russell claimed a couple, as spinner Roston Chase was the most economical one from his side. In reply, the Windies started shaky, losing opener Chris Gayle (1), Evin Lewis (8) and Chase (9) by the sixth over, with 47 runs on the board.
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30 runs later, Nicholas Pooran (46) was the next to depart, falling to pacer Dushmantha Chameera in the 12th, followed by Russell (2), at 94, to pacer Karunaratne. Although Shimron Hetmyer (81*) kept going, the remaining incoming batters fell for single figures, as Windies was restricted to 169/8, despite some late fireworks from him, while Lanka won by 20 runs.
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Lanka put six bowlers into the attack, with Binura Fernando, Karunaratne and Wanindu Hasaranga claiming a couple each, while the latter was decent with his economy.
Brief scores: Lanka 189/3 (Nissanka- 51, Asalanka- 68; Russell- 2/33) defeated Windies 169/8 (Pooran- 46, Hetmyer- 81; Hasaranga- 2/19) by 20 runs.
