Gabriel, Shillingford secure series win

The pace of Shannon Gabriel and the offspin of Shane Shillingford, both operating with new balls, spearheaded West Indies A's defence of a modest total in Grenada and secured a 2-1 series victory against Sri Lanka A by a 67-run margin.

Defending 196, Gabriel and Shillingford bowled economically and incisively. Shillingford struck first, in the fourth over, and Gabriel dismissed two Sri Lanka A batsmen in the space of four balls in the seventh. By the 14th over, the visitors had been reduced to 43 for 6 - Gabriel and Shillingford taking three each - and there was no recovery. Dilruwan Perera top-scored with 48 to lead his team past 100, but the pace of scoring was so slow that the target was not under threat. Sri Lanka A were dismissed for 129 in the 41st over. Left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul and fast bowler Jason Holder took two wickets each for West Indies A.

The home side also endured difficult moments after they had chosen to bat. They had slipped to 37 for 4 in the 16th over before half-centuries from Andre Fletcher and Devon Thomas steadied the innings. Fletcher made 59 off 95 balls and Thomas 50 off 75, and they added 105 runs for the fifth wicket. Nikita Millar, batting at No. 8, scored 23 off 22 balls to lift West Indies A to 196 for 8. Suranga Lakmal was the pick of the Sri Lanka A bowlers, taking 3 for 28 in ten overs.