finishes it off in style to seal the match and the series, another monstrous blow, it was slightly short and Russell was eyeing that pull shot, nailed it this time, power and distance and he finishes with an unbeaten 40 in no time
West Indies won by 7 wickets (with 18 balls remaining)
Right, that's all from us, folks. Thanks for giving us company through this West indies tour of Sri Lanka. This is Ankur Dhawan, signing off on behalf of Andrew Fidel Fernando. To relive all the action, hop over to Andrew's Report which will be in shortly.
Kieron Pollard: Pretty satisfied to leave Sri Lankan shores with a victory, we hadn't won a T20I series in a while. The guys executed nicely, the foundation was laid by Brandon King, the young man is finding his feet in international cricket, Russell finished it off and the bowlers were brilliant. We were trying to make them hit to one side of the park only. (Kusal Perera) He is always looking for the length ball, every time we bowl fuller he tends to miss, our analyst has done a brilliant job, and as I said, it was a total team effort.
Lasith Malinga: I think this surface we needed more runs. 150 is enough to fight with on a slow pitch, but Wanindu's (Hasarnga's) injury hurt us. We needed early wickets defending 155, we didn't get those. I feel bowling is not on top because we are not picking up many wickets. In the next 12 games we need to find consistency and confidence. Definitely (fielding has improved), players and support staff putting in a lot of effort and that's why there is improvement.
Andre Russell is the player of the match and the series: I was just trying to get the runs, it was a good team display. We still have some areas to work on but we are peaking at the right time, everyone is in tune. (On ODI series loss) I think when you start off on the wrong foot, you end up playing catch, we have a good ODI side though.
Brandon King: It was pleasing, my role as opener is to try and get the team into a good position in the Powerplay. We haven't done well in the last couple of series so this was very important. The way he (Andre Russell) hits the ball, nobody else in the world can do it.
10.25pmWest Indies take the series two-nil, and they've done this at a canter. Sri Lanka needed something special from Lasith Malinga defending what was a modest total against a powerful batting line up, but he was taken for 31 in his first two with Brandon King smacking him for consecutive sixes. He went for 46 in his three, suffering at the hands of Andre Russell towards the end. King made 43 before Lahiru Kumara's pace accounted for him, and he did rattle the West Indies briefly, greeting Rovman Powell with a blow to the helmet. However, Shimron Hetmyer, who didn't get to bat in the last match, anchored the chase nicely, and Andre Russell finished things off with some of the most brutal hitting you would ever see. Sri Lanka missed Hasaranga with the ball due to injury but truth be told, they were well short with the bat despite a good recovery.
length on middle again, it isn't short enough for the pull but he managed to get away to long-on for one
slower one, a bit short, pulled straight to midwicket
short one, Russell hammers it flat and hard but on the bounce and straight to deep midwicket
length outside off, cut away to the sweeper on the off side to bring Russell back on strike with six to get
that's length on middle and asking to be hit, Russell obliges, clears his front leg and clubs it over deep midwicket for another six. Takes a lot of effort to nail that yorker, Malinga did so twice but missed it this time and paid a heavy price
full on the pads, Hetmyer calmly clips it to dep square leg for one
another yorker, perfect again, tailing in, Russell makes a little room and squeezes it out again
brilliant response, Malinga nails the yorker, not at his full pace but there's nothing even Russell can do about it except squeeze it out with great difficulty
it's a lovely slower ball outside off but it's not good enough for Andre Russell, who gets down on one knee, gets under it and muscles it over long-on, where do you bowl to this guy? It has to be a fast, inch-perfect yorker like last match
slower ball floated up outside off, drilled to deep cove's left but only one with Russell not keen on the second even though it was on
that's miles into the night sky and deep into the stands, eyes of the fielders following the ball all the way whether in awe or despair, it was in the slot, length around middle and Russell sends it sailing over long-on
slower one, full on the pads, clipped to deep square leg for one
full outside off, Russell drags this across the line towards deep midwicket for one
length outside off, a round-armish delivery, Russell swings across the line again but misses again
slower one, outside off, Russell has an almighty swing but misses
Kumara predictably goes for the short one but it isn't high enough and even though it was pretty quick Russell hammers it flat and hard over deep midwicket
first ball from the big fast bowler and Russell launches this wayyyyy over long-on, to be fair it was in the slot, full around middle, which allowed Russell to get under it
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium | |
Toss | West Indies, elected to field first |
Series | |
Season | 2019/20 |
Player Of The Match | |
Player Of The Series | |
Series result | West Indies won the 2-match series 2-0 |
Match number | T20I no. 1078 |
Match days | 6 March 2020 - night (20-over match) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee |
Over 17 • WI 158/3
West Indies won by 7 wickets (with 18 balls remaining)