West Indies defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in their World T20 Super 10 Group 1 match here on Sunday.
“It is not a one-man show for us,” avowed West Indies skipper Darren Sammy as Andre Fletcher filled in the big boots of injured Chris Gayle with a remarkable 84-run knock against Sri Lanka, tonight.
Gayle pulled his hamstring while fielding and did not bat in West Indies’ chase. Fletcher opened the innings and played a gem of a knock to lead his side to win. “I hope that he (Gayle) recovers but what we have shown today is that it’s not a one man show. The way Fletcher stepped up in the absence of Gayle showed that we have 15 potential match winners,” Sammy said making the point clear that they are not depended on just Gayle.
“It was good to see the way we bowled. And then the way Fletcher batted was brilliant. I’m happy as a captain. When you select someone and they have immediate impact you are happy,” he said.
Sammy also praised his spinners - Samuel Badree and Suleiman Benn - who gave away just 25 runs in their eight overs. “The spinners are the ones getting the wickets and keeping down the rate. The way Badree and Benn bowled in the Powerplay was great. Badree kept taking wickets and that helped,” he said.
Badree tore into the rival top-order in an exceptional spell as the West Indies restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 122 for nine. Badree hit the right areas outside the off stump with amazing consistency as he gave away only 12 runs in his four overs and accounted for three Lankan batsmen after the Caribbeans opted to bowl. His spell meant that Sri Lanka had lost half the side before the 10th over.
SCOREBOARD
Sri Lanka: Chandimal r.o. 16, Dilshan lbw b Brathwaite 12, Thirimanne c Fletcher b Badree 5, Kapugedera st Ramdin b Badree 6, Mathews c Ramdin b Bravo 20, Siriwardana c Gayle b Badree 0, Perera c Russell b Bravo 40, Kulasekara b Russell 7, Herath r.o. 3, Vandersay n.o. 0, Chameera n.o. 0; Extras (LB-7, WD-5, NB-1) 13; Total (20 overs) 122/9; Wickets: 1-20, 2-32, 3-41, 4-47, 5-47, 6-91, 7-116, 8-121, 9-121; Bowling: Russell 4-0-34-1, Badree 4-0-12-3, Benn 4-0-13-0, Brathwaite 4-0-36-1, Bravo 4-0-20-0.
West Indies: Fletcher n.o. 84, Charles b Vandersay 10, Samuels st Chandimal b Siriwardana 3, Ramdin b Siriwardana 5, Russell n.o. 20; Extras (WD-5) 5; Total (18.2 overs) 127/3; Wickets: 1-39, 2-54, 3-72; Bowling: Mathews 1-0-13-0, Herath 4-0-27-0, Kulasekara 2-0-17-0, Vandersay 4-1-11-1, Siriwardana 4-0-33-2, Chameera 3-0-15-0, Perera 0.2-0-11-0.
West Indies won by 7 wickets