Holder and Joseph Lead West Indies to 1-0 Series Lead

West Indies chased down 147 to win by 7 wickets with a final-over finish. Despite Sri Lanka’s spirited bowling, the chase ended up comfortable for the hosts. Series: West Indies go 1-0 up in the T20I series.

A flicked Rovman Powell six over deep midwicket off the expensive Dilshan Madushanka sealed the win, but it was one built on the patience of Shai Hope. The West Indian skipper made it a point to carry his bat through the innings in a 54-ball 65, as ensured there would be no hiccoughs come the crunch.

Hope was part of a rampant 39-ball opening stand of 67 with Brandon King, before shifting gears through the middle to string crucial partnerships of 28, 33 and 21*, with Shimron Hetmeyer, Roston Chase and Powell.

Sri Lanka's bowlers toiled to drag the game deep in the second half of the chase, buffering a 66-run powerplay to take the game into the final over. Wanindu Hasaranga was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2 for 32, while Eshan Malinga also impressed with 1 for 26.

If West Indies' start was belligerent, what followed certainly belied that. The 10 overs leading up to the death brought 54 runs and two wickets, as Sri Lanka clawed themselves back into proceedings. Such was West Indies' early impact, it meant Sri Lanka were always underdogs but it crucially kept them in the game till the latter stages - when anything could happen.

Key to this was the Sri Lankan spin pairing of Maheesh Theekshana and Hasaranga. The latter was more expensive, giving away 32 in his four overs but picking up the wickets of King and Hetmyer. Theekshana meanwhile went wicketless but his four overs went for just 20 runs.

Sri Lanka dropped King multiple times during the opening salvo – he was at the center of every missed opportunity. Those chances proved costly as the openers gave West Indies complete control early.

Bottom line: Hope and King’s 66 in the powerplay broke the back of Sri Lanka’s defence, with Sri Lanka left to rue several dropped catches of King in a chase West Indies ultimately won by 7 wickets.