WT20: Badree, Fletcher help West Indies beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets

NEW DELHI: Samuel Badree took three wickets and then Andre Fletcher scored unbeaten 84 as West Indies cruised to a seven-wicket win over defending champions Sri Lanka in a Group 1 Super 10 match of the ICC World T20 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Chasing 123, West Indies scored 127/3 in 18.2 overs to record their second win of the tournament and move to the top spot in their group.

West Indies outplayed Sri Lanka in all the departments. Their spinners were superb and fielding was outstanding. Fletcher handsomely filled the boots of an injured Chris Gayle who was in the dressing room for the major part of Sri Lankan innings and subsequently his batting order had to be shuffled in order to make up for the time he spent off the field.

Cashing in on the opportunity, Fletcher gave his side a brisk start when he scored 12 runs in the very first over of West Indies' chase. He shared 39-run first wicket partnership with Johnson Charles, and then added 55 runs for an unbroken stand with Andre Russell, who remained unbeaten on 20.

Fletcher, though got a lifeline when he was dropped by wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal when on 71. Windies then required 29 runs from 30 balls.

Fletcher reached 50 off 37 when he flicked Siriwardana for two runs.

The moment West Indies started their chase and sent in Fletcher in place of Gayle, the crowd started chanting "We want Gayle, we want Gayle".

Charles, who was dropped by Kapugedera at deep midwicket, could not cash in on and was bowled on 10.

Gayle, all ready to bat after West Indies lost their third wicket in Ramdin, was not allowed to do so. A hamstring injury meant he could not field during Sri Lanka innings and as per the rules had to sit out for the same duration.

Earlier, West Indies executed their plans perfectly, restricting struggling Sri Lanka for 122/9. West Indies, who opted to bowl, did not face any resistance from the Lankan batsmen as only two of them could cross the 20-run mark. The defending champions struggled throughout their innings against some disciplined bowling from the Windies.

Sri Lanka got some solace in the form of Thisara Perera, who took his team to the respectable total, top-scoring with 40. He first built 44-run partnership with skipper Angelo Mathews (20) and then added 25 runs with Nuwan Kulasekara.

Samuel Badree, who first induced an edge off Lahiru Thirimanne that was taken by Fletcher, claimed two more wickets in the eighth over in the form of Chamara Kapugedera and Milinda Siriwardana. He finished his quota of four overs with three for 12. Dwayne Bravo took two wickets while Andre Russell and Carlos Brathwaite chipped in with one wicket each. Badree gave away only 12 runs in his four overs. Sri Lanka had lost half the side before the 10th over.

Brathwaite gave West Indies their first breakthrough on the first ball of his over as he trapped Tillakaratne Dilshan (12) in front of the wicket. Dilshan, who fell to a bad decision, had made his intentions clear by hammering paceman Andre Russell over mid-wicket for a six on the very first ball he faced.

With spinners playing decisive roles in the early matches of the tournament so far, Sri Lanka included legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay to bolster their bowling attack which already includes left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and offspinner Sachithra Senanayake. Runs were hard to come by and there was a time when the gap between two boundaries was 44 balls.

Brief scores: West Indies 127/3 in 18.2 overs (Andre Fletcher 84, Andre Russell 20; Milinda Siriwardana 2/33) beat Sri Lanka 122/9 in 20 overs (Thisara Perera 40, Angelo Mathews 20, Dinesh Chandimal 16; Samuel Badree 3/12).