Kandy, Sri Lanka, CMC- West Indies cricketers are eyeing a semifinal spot as they take on Sri Lanka today in their second ICC World T20 Super Eights match at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
The clash of the two unbeaten teams in the super eights and with the home team in action a large crowd is expected at the picturesque ground for what is being billed as “Super Saturday.”
“We will look to progress and get even better against Sri Lanka” said Sammy.
“The crowd loves a ‘cracker’ like we had against England and like what we saw when Sri Lanka played New Zealand, so hopefully we will provide some more entertainment for the fans, so long as we come out on top”.
The Windies and Sri Lanka both won their opening matches in Group one.
West Indies conquered England by 15 runs and the Sri Lanka beat New Zealand in a cliffhanger which was decided in the “super over”.
Sammy noted that the driving force behind the team is “winning for the fans”, who have not celebrated an international title since the West Indies won the ICC Champions trophy with a two-wicket victory over England at the Oval eight years ago.
“When we left the Caribbean that was the most important thing in our minds, winning this tournament for our fans. The last decade has been tough for us. We last won some silverware in 2004”said the captain.
“This a good opportunity for us to do that here and so far we’ve been playing well as a team and we have to take it one game at a time”.
In the opening Super Eights match, the West Indies were led by openers Johnson Charles and Chris Gayle, who added a century stand in 11 overs.
The batting was backed up by a brilliant first spell from pacer Ravi Rampaul and leg-spinner Samuel Badree, who was accurate in his first match.
“It was good that our bowlers stuck to our plans and we won against England. We got a full game and showed what we are capable of, ” said Sammy.
“We will look to progress and get even better against Sri Lanka”.
First ball today is 7:30 pm (10 am Eastern Caribbean Time/9 am Jamaica Time).
