West Indies have written one of the most dramatic chapters seen at Jamaica’s Sabina Park in recent memory as they ripped victory from Sri Lankan hands, chasing down a target to decide the three-match T20I series on Sunday night. The home side incredibly needed 60 from the last 22 balls but powered to within two balls of victory, earning a series win which had seemingly eluded them for much of their innings.
With the series perfectly poised at 1-1 going into the decider, the three-match rubber finished 2-1 in favour of West Indies and Sri Lanka were left to ponder what might have been as their pursuit for a first-ever T20I series win over West Indies pushed its way further into record books.
Sri Lanka Bat First, Again
Sri Lanka, having chased down targets of under 300 in the previous two ODIs on this ground, were once again batting first after West Indies captain Shai Hope won the toss and chose to field. Curator’s restricted prep time probably meant an easier pitch than the two first test surfaces, freshly prepared in then rare daylong Jamaican sunshine. Across the scoreboard, this meant a surface which didn’t quite bounce or spin as much (it also made it better for lower order hitters) and conditions which weren’t particularly great for anyone who wouldn’t disguise their cutters well.
Sri Lanka, unchanged from their 37-run rout in the second T20I, sought to exploit those conditions with their by now standard spinners-based approach. Danushka Gunathilaka and Nissanka took advantage of the powerplay before a steady stream of wickets fell through the middle overs.
Sri Lanka’s middle-order was rescued, in what was said to be a coming-of-age innings, by Dunith Wellalage. The left-hander wrote an understated 43 off 28 balls, and with a couple of useful knocks from the lower-order, steered the visiting side to a competitive total of 169 all out in their allotted 20 overs. The hosts best bowler Shamar Joseph had enchantments of 5 for 33 the second-best numbers such a long way in his career, while he took wickets during the most acute periods of the innings: at the rear end of powerplay and last over.
The Heist at Sabina Park
West Indies – chasing 170 began their reply in complete disarray. At the halfway point of their innings, they were already at 64 but had lost 4 wickets in just the first 10 overs and the runrate was climbing steeply. With a spin triumvirate of Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage operating swiftly on a surface set up for them, they suffocated the West Indian middle-order ball-after-ball.
For 16 overs of the chase, Sri Lanka seemed to cruise towards a landmark series victory. And then, everything changed.
Only then could Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford, the latter somehow alive after two dropped catches, start to get in behind balls. That fifth-wicket partnership of 81 runs from just 53 balls completely changed the game and brought it down to the last few overs in a very tight equation. Rutherford, who was 54 not out off 40 balls, anchored the attack.
However, with the fall of Powell, West Indies required much more. Enter Jason Holder, the Player-of-the-Match from the first game, having missed the second T20I with a niggle coming back into the eleven at just the right time. Holder knocked an astonishing 21 runs from five balls to wrap up the run chase with two deliveries remaining and Sabina Park into ecstatic celebration.
Team Changes and Tactical Notes
West Indies made two alterations from their second-game loss. Heading the returns was Holder, in place of Shamar Springer and Romario Shepherd. The only changes involved the introduction of little-known, but highly-rated young batter Ackeem Auguste into the XI to replace Springer.
Inspired by their splendid showing on Saturday, Sri Lanka resisted all temptation to alter the winning formula in naming an unchanged eleven that had blown Australia away two days earlier.
Series Verdict
Sri Lanka will take a lot of pride from this Caribbean tour even with the loss in the ODI series. While they had already sealed the ODI series 1-0 after rain washed out the second and third matches, wins in both those ODIs and their two successes this T20I series showed a renewed maturity and depth to their white-ball game. In particular, their spin attack Hasaranga, Theekshana and Wellalage chased down any batting combination India could offer with relative ease in the WTC final last year against New Zealand and will give their management plenty to look forward to ahead of a Test assignment later this season.
For West Indies, it was a much-needed boost after their ODI woes, and this series-win surely came in the most nail-biting way possible. The memories will last longest from Shamar Joseph’s five-wicket haul and Holder’s late charge, but the hosts are aware there are things to work on as they prepare for top opposition in the months ahead.
The sides now turn their attention to the Test arena with a two-match series at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua.
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