Sri Lanka knocks down the defending champions, West Indies, out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, 2021. Sri Lanka won comprehensively at the end by 20 runs in Abu Dhabi. The Lankans were on a roll after they were put to bat by the Windies captain, Kieron Pollard. West Indies were behind the game for most of the match.
They didn’t start well with the ball and got thumped by some brilliant batting by the Lankan top order. In the second innings, West Indies lost wickets at regular intervals and couldn’t manage to get past the finishing line at the end. With big names of T20 cricket in their team, West Indies were below par in this tournament, and their hopes for a record third T20 World Cup title officially ended after this loss against Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s batting carnival
The opening batters of Sri Lanka made a blistering start. Pathum Nissanka continued to play his shots after the wicket of his fellow opening partner, Kusal Perera. He scored a well-deserved half-century off 41 deliveries. Nissanka kept the scoreboard ticking and set the platform for a big total. Along with Asalanka, Nissanka set the stage with a huge partnership of 91 runs off 61 balls.
The Sri Lankan batting was set on fire by their new number three batter, Charith Asalanka. Asalanka was adjourned as the player of the match, and he batted brilliantly. Asalanka scored 68 runs off 41 balls at an unbelievable strike rate of 165.85. He played all around the ground and played beautiful shots through the third man and long-off region.
Asalanka was the anchor of the innings as he was part of two crucial partnerships with Nissanka and then with captain Shanaka. A quick 46 off 19 balls by Asalanka and Shanaka helped Sri Lanka reach the score of 189. Sri Lanka’s young guns batted fearlessly and set up a great foundation for a victory against the Windies.
Excellent bowling performance by Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan bowlers were on top of their game with some outstanding new-ball bowling. Their seamers bowled beautifully and picked up three big wickets during the powerplay. It tilted the position of the game towards the Lankan side. Although the Windies scored at a rate of 8.67 during the powerplay, they still had a mountain to climb after losing three wickets in quick succession.
After an expensive powerplay, Sri Lankan bowlers then kept things tight between overs 7 to 10, as they just conceded 20 runs at a rate of five. The match then shifted in Sri Lanka’s favor because of a brilliant bowling display by the number 1 T20 bowler, Wanindu Hasaranga. In overs 11-15, West Indies just managed to score at a rate of 7.6 and lost three massive wickets of hard-hitting West Indian batters. In the end, it was a humongous task for the Windies, and they lost the match, even though they scored 59 runs in the last five overs.
Sri Lanka’s top bowling performances came from Hasaranga, as he picked up figures of 4 overs, 19 runs, and took two huge wickets. A high-scoring game featuring some of the best hitters of all time, he bowled at an amazing economy rate of 4.75. Other than him, Fernando set the powerplay on fire with two wickets, and then Karunaratne joined the party in the middle overs with two wickets from his four overs. He was expensive at the end, but he did his job brilliantly and helped in securing a thumping win over the defending champions, West Indies.
Disappointing performance by the defending champions
West Indies had an awful campaign in this edition of the T20 World Cup. They have been one of the best teams in this format of the game, but they weren’t at their best in this year’s World Cup, as their journey ended with a disappointing defeat against the Lankan Lions. West Indies had an awful start with the ball in hand, as the Lankan batters ran all over their bowling unit. Windies bowlers couldn’t manage to pick up wickets which resulted in a big total by the Lankans. West Indies bowling unit couldn’t control any phase of the innings and conceded almost at a rate of more than eight runs during each phase of the innings. In the death overs, they were hit for 57 runs at a rate of 11.4, which shifted the momentum of the match towards Sri Lanka.
West Indies still had hope as they had one of the best batting line-ups on paper in this format of the game. But it was a poor start by Gayle and Lewis, who got out pretty early, and then just like them, other batters too departed pretty early and couldn’t impact the game with the bat. Their condition was so vulnerable that their best partnership came in the form of the 9th wicket as Hetmyer scored the bulk of the runs during the end of the innings.
Windies batters put on a poor show, and the only silver lining for them was Shimron Hetmyer. Hetmyer played an amazing knock of 81 runs off just 54 balls, at a strike rate of 150. Hetmyer started slowly, but later showcased his power and hit some mighty blows down the ground. His innings went in vain as it was too late. No other batter supported him, which resulted in a heavy loss for the men in maroon. In the end, Sri Lanka was good in all three departments of the game, and they closed the match down pretty comfortably.