BANGALORE, India, CMC- Opener Andre Fletcher says he was motivated by Chris Gayle before his blazing knock of 84 not out propelled West Indies to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Fletcher roared to 84 off 64 balls to spearhead the run chase after he was included in the side at the expense of seamer Jerome Taylor and then promoted to the opening spot following a hamstring injury to Gayle.
He hit six fours and five sixes and dominating a 39-run first wicket stand with Johnson Charles before adding a further 55 in an unbroken fourth wicket stand with Andre Russell.
“Chris is my mentor in T20 and before I went in he said I would have a big day,” Fletcher recalled.
“So I want to thank him for that confidence. But I don’t think anyone can take his job”.
The match was set-up by some magnificent bowling by leg-spinner Samuel Badree who had figures of 4-0-12-3, while seamer Dwayne Bravo finished with 2-20.
Left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn was again tidy, going for just 13 runs off his four overs as Sri Lanka’s were restricted to 122-9 off their 20 overs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“We have a great team spirit and we are uniting as one, you know we just have to continue that momentum to try not to get to complacent,” said Fletcher.
“We always try to play each game as a final so we would always go out there and play as hard as possible and once we could win all four it would be great for us”.
It was the second win for West Indies, after the six-wicket triumph over England last week.
They now top Group 1 with four points and a net Run Rate of +0.893.
For Fletcher, his unbeaten knock of 84 which earned him Man-of-the-Match was his career best score.
“I always had my eye on the score. I know to myself one big over and we are back on track,” said Fletcher.
“So I tried to play each ball on its merit. Once it comes in my half I would back myself to clear the ropes and that’s what”
