West Indies defeat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets, win T20I series

Pallekele [Sri Lanka]: Shimron Hetmyer and Andre Russell shine as West Indies defeated Sri Lanka by seven-wickets in the second T20I at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium here on Friday.

With this win, Windies clinched the two-match T20I series 2-0.

Chasing 156, West Indies lost opener Lendl Simmons in the third over, reducing the side to 23-1. Brandon King played aggressively and kept the run chase alive for the Caribbean team. King got out after scoring 43 runs off 21 balls. Rovman Powell then joined Shimron Hetmyer at the crease, and the duo took the side past 100 runs mark.

Dasun Shanaka dismissed Powell (17) in the 13th over. However, Hetmyer and Andre Russell continued to play positively and kept the run chase alive. Russell played aggressively and dominated Sri Lanka bowlers in the match.

Hetmyer and Russell powered the West Indies team to victory with three overs to spare. Hetmyer remained not out on 43 while Russell played an unbeaten knock of 40 runs off 14 balls.

Earlier after put to bat first, Sri Lanka opener Avishka Fernando got out after scoring nine runs. The host suffered a setback as Shehan Jayasuriya and Kusal Perera got out in the seventh over, reducing the side to 48-3.

Sri Lanka struggled in the middle overs, as the side lost Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis cheaply.

In the finals overs, Dasun Shanaka and Thisara Perera took the side to 155 runs. Shanaka played an unbeaten knock of 31 while Thisara remained unbeaten on 21. (ANI)