SL VS WI - 1st T20I, West Indies tour of Sri Lanka, 2020

Quite an eventful night it was. West Indies hit plenty of sixes in the first innings, while Oshane Thomas applied the knockout punch with his 5-wicket haul. A clinical effort by the Men in Maroon. We've got another T20I to go that shall be played at the same venue after a couple of days. Can West Indies make it two in two? Or will Lanka bounce back to level the series? Join us on Friday, 6th of March to find that out. For now, it's a goodbye from Nikhil Jadhav, Hari Sadanandan and Mr. Nagz from the Cricbuzz comm box. Goodnight folks!

Best bowling figures for West Indies (T20I):
5/15 Keemo Paul v BAN, Dhaka 2018
5/26 Daren Sammy v ZIM, Port of Spain 2010
5/28 Oshane Thomas v SL, Pallekele 2020*

Best bowling figures at Pallekele (T20I):
6/16 Ajantha Mendis v AUS 2011
5/6 Lasith Malinga v NZ 2019
5/28 Oshane Thomas v SL 2020**
5/31 Lasith Malinga v ENG 2012

Kieron Pollard: It's good to win. It was a total team effort. The batting foundation was laid by the openers. Oshane was brilliant. This is his second game since he's back. His work is showing. He executed his plans really well. In the T20s the guys have shown us their skills. Powell was the unsung hero with the ball. I'll tell you the plans against Kusal Perera after the next game. Just a matter of coming out and executing our plans in the next game.

Lasith Malinga: In this kind of situation we didn't get a partnership. We lost five wickets early but we need to come back strongly in the next match. With the dew it's hard to bowl in such conditions. We needed partnerships but we didn't get that. That never helps.

Oshane Thomas, MoM: It's a great feeling to be back in the Windies side and winning. I was trying to bowl hard lengths and trying to keep it straight, not giving the batsman any room. Our plan was to bowl short and it was working today.

22:32 Local Time, 17:02 GMT, 22:32 IST: They suffered a whitewash in the ODI series, but they're top-notch when it comes to the shortest format. And today we got to see how strong a side West Indies are. No wonder they've won the T20 World Cup twice, since it's inception. In a line up where Bravo is slotted in to bat 9, the opposition has a very bleak chance to restrict such a potent batting order. After winning the toss, West Indies openers got them off to a flier and the pivotal contributions from Pollard and Russell helped the visitors post a challenging total on a good batting wicket. In reply, Sri Lanka got off to a bizarre start as Oshane Thomas ran through their batting order, taking five wickets in the first half of the innings itself. Kusal Perera and Wanindu Hasaranga kept Lankan hopes alive with their 87-run stand, but once that came to an end, it was only a matter of time. Presentations on the other side..

Cottrell to Malinga, out Bowled!! No salute by Cottrell, that's strange. He's knocked over the Sri Lankan skipper, but no real celebration. Nothing much from his team mates either as the result was always on the cards. A length delivery around off and the batsman gets beaten due to the skiddy length delivery. The stumps are rattled and West Indies win by 25 runs. Their first win on this tour. Malinga b Cottrell 8(6) [6s-1]

Cottrell to Malinga, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

Sheldon Cottrell [2.0-0-14-0] is back into the attack

Dwayne Bravo to Malinga, 1 run, fired into the blockhole on leg, Malinga whips it away through mid-wicket for one

Pushpendra: WI will be one of the favorites to win the T20 World Cup this year. The firepower they have in their team is better than most of the others!

Dwayne Bravo to Sandakan, 1 run, fullish delivery on middle and leg, a low full toss and it has been whipped down to long-on for one

Dwayne Bravo to Malinga, 1 run, slower one around middle and leg, Malinga glances it down to fine leg for one

Dwayne Bravo to Malinga, no run, yorker on leg, Malinga squeezes it back to the bowler

Dwayne Bravo to Malinga, no run, fullish delivery on leg, Malinga swings across the line, but it brushes his pads and dips towards the keeper

Lakshan Sandakan, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Dwayne Bravo to Udana, out Caught by Pollard!! Pollard has taken the catch of the match. It's that combination of Bravo and Pollard - not for the first time that we've seen it. Udana chips the full toss straight to long-on where the West Indian skipper sprints forward and pulls off a brilliant catch diving forward. Udana c Pollard b Dwayne Bravo 3(5)

Dwayne Bravo to Udana, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Dwayne Bravo [3.0-0-27-0] is back into the attack

29 required in 2 overs