KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Opener Lendl Simmons hit an unbeaten 51 to steer West Indies A to a convincing five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka A in their second T20 cricket match at the Arnos Vale complex yesterday.
The Trinidadian smashed a boundary-studded half century as West Indies A responded with 83 for five, off 11.4 overs, chasing 82 posted by the Sri Lankans after they were dismissed in 18.1 overs.
Simmons hurried West Indies to victory and also posted his half century with successive sixes, off Niroshan Dickwella , as West Indies reached what turned out to be an easy target with eight overs to spare. Simmons knock came off 42 balls and included five sixes and three fours.
Captain Dwayne Smith, who opened with Simmons, contributed 14 while the other West Indies batsmen dismissed were Chris Barnwell, Nkrumah Bonner and Andre Russell.
West Indies were in command throughout the contest after they won the toss and sent in the opposition.
Sri Lanka’s opening batsmen Dickwella and Udara Jayasundara were kept in early check by West Indies opening bowlers , spinner Samuel Badree and pacer Shannon Gabriel, and never recovered after losing the first wicket with three runs on the board.
Wickets fell regularly as the visitors struggled against the West Indies bowlers and after nine overs, Sri Lanka were 31 for five. The innings folded as Smith had Madura Lakmal (11 runs) trapped LBW with the first ball of the 19th over and after some eventful early overs , West Indies romped to victory on the aggressive strokeplay of Simmons.
Offspinner Ashley Nurse (3 for 15) and seamer Kevon Cooper (2 for 17) were the leading bowlers for West Indies.
Yesterday’s match was the second of two T20 matches in the series. The first was rained out on Tuesday after just three balls were bowled.
Sri Lanka A and West Indies A will next meet in the first of three 50-over matches in Grenada, starting on Sunday.
