Sri Lanka visited West Indies for 2 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 3 T20I matches series in the month of March - April 2021. The tournament started with the 3 matches T20I series between WI and SL 2021. All the T20I matches of the series were played at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua. The first T20I match of the series started on 3 March 2021. Ashen Bandara, Pathum Nissanka made their debut for Sri Lanka and Kevin Sinclair played his first T20I for West Indies.
In the first T20I, West Indies won the toss and went for bowling first. Sri Lanka batsmen struggled a lot and were not able to score a big total. WI bowlers bowled really well and stopped SL batsmen at the score of 131 runs only. West Indies did not get any difficulty achieving that low target. The match was low scoring but it was entertaining because of Kieron Pollard’s six 6s in an over and super hat trick made by Akila Dananjaya. Akila Dananjaya was the third Sri Lanka player who achieved this accomplishment. West Indies won the 1st T20I of the series by 4 wickets and led the series by 1-0. Kieron Pollard became Man of the Match.
In the second T20I, Sri Lanka came out to the middle with an extra spinner to gave more competition to the opposition’s batting lineup. West Indies came up unchanged and Sri Lanka with one change, SL included Lakshan Sandakan in place of Nuwan Pradeep. Sri Lankan decided to bat first after winning the toss. After getting a good start of 95 runs for the opening partnership, they struggled a bit in the middle but managed to score 160 runs on the scoreboard. Bravo got 2 wickets. WI batsmen were on the crease to chase the target but SL bowlers could not allow them to settle down and bowled out the entire squad at 117 runs only. Lakshan Sandakan, PWH de Silva took 3 wickets each, and Dushmantha Chameera took 2 wickets. Sri Lanka won the 2nd T20I by 43 runs and broke their 9 matches winless chain. PWH de Silva was named Man of the Match. The 3 T20I WI vs SL series 2021 was level by 1-1 win.
In the 3rd T20I, the decider of the series, Sri Lanka decided to bat first after winning the toss but once again the top order of the team grappled and failed to give a good start. Dinesh Chandimal at the number 4 position made his career’s 5th T20 fifty that helped Sri Lanka to reach 131. The target was not so big for the West Indies power hitter. Sri Lanka spinners performed well and took three quick wickets at 27 runs. The Indies had had to do very hard work and the game entered in the second last over. West Indies won the match by 3 wickets and Fabian Allen was named for Man of the Match for his rocking and match-winning 21 runs from 6 balls. The battle between Sri Lanka’s spinner and West Indies’s power hitter ended with the win of WI.
West Indies won the 3 T20I series 2021 between WI and SL by 2-1. Pathum Nissanka was the top scorer with 81 runs at the strike rate of 115.71 and Wanindu Hasaranga was the highest wicket-taker with 8 wickets.
