King and Lewis help West Indies to T20 triumph over Sri Lanka

DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka (AFP) – A stunning performance from Brandon King and Evin Lewis led the West Indies to a comfortable five-wicket win in the first T20 against Sri Lanka on Sunday.

The West Indies surpassed the target of 180 with five balls in hand to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

“When you come to Sri Lanka it is always important to take the lead early. We know Sri Lanka are a team that plays excellent cricket at home,” West Indies captain Rovman Powell said.

He said it was crucial to “throw the first punch” and then “once you get to the top, you try to stay up as long as possible.”

The chase started with fireworks as the duo of King and Lewis scored 74 runs in a six-over powerplay to put Sri Lanka on the defensive.

King was the first to reach his half-century, elegantly pulling off a four-cover drive off Matheesha Pathirana.

He scored his 50 in just 25 balls, while Lewis followed soon after, needing just 27 shots for his half-century.

“My job was to get the team off to a good start, and it went well,” King said.

Together, King and Lewis added 107 runs in just nine overs for the opening wicket.

It was the highest partnership for any wicket for West Indies against Sri Lanka in T20 cricket.

The partnership was eventually broken when Pathirana deceived Lewis with a slower ball and the batsman played it to Chamindu Wickramasinghe at back point.

King opened the scoring with an impressive 63 from 33 balls, including 11 fours and a six.

As the openers kicked off, all the middle order had to do was rotate the shot, make singles and take calculated risks to ensure victory.

Sri Lanka tried to recover by securing a few wickets, but the damage done by the first pair put the hosts in an almost impossible position.

All-rounder Roston Chase and captain Powell steadied the innings and contributed 32 runs for the fourth wicket.

Powell was out for 13 in the 17th over as he misplaced an attempt for six from Maheesh Theekshana against Wanindu Hasaranga at long-on.

Chase made his way to 19, was caught behind by Pathirana, but the job was almost complete.

Although torrential rain threatened to wash out the game, the ground staff's quick efforts allowed play to continue after a 30-minute delay.

Earlier, half-centuries from Kamindu Mendis and Charith Asalanka had taken Sri Lanka to a seemingly competitive 179, with the pair sharing an 82-run stand off 54 balls for the fourth wicket.

However, it proved inadequate against West Indies' explosive openers, who nullified Sri Lanka's bowling attack.

“Whatever we did today didn’t work out for us but we will come back after resolving a few issues,” said captain Asalanka.

“The plus point for us is that we play good cricket.”

The West Indies are third in the global T20 rankings while Sri Lanka are at eighth place.

The remaining two T20s of the series, also in Dambulla, will be played on October 15 and 17 before the teams travel to Pallekele for a three-match ODI series.