Sri Lanka vs West Indies T20I

SL vs WI, 3rd T20I

Preview

After levelling up the series to 1-1, the Hosts Sri Lanka will meet West Indies in the series' third and final T20I match on Thursday, 17 October 2024. This series decider is scheduled at Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium, Dambulla, Sri Lanka. Charith Asalanka will lead the Lankan Lions, Sri Lanka. On the other hand, Rovman Powell will lead the Men in Maroon, WI.

After winning the toss in the second T20I match, SL decided to bat first and scored 162 on the board with the help of Pathum Nissanka's 54 off 49 balls who was well supported by Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera who scored 26 and 24 respectively. For the Windies, Romaro Shepherd got the two big wickets while Shamar Springer, Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph picked a wicket each.

While chasing the target of 163 runs Windies stumbled out on 89 runs in just 16.1 overs, losing the match by a big margin of 73 runs. Only the skipper Romaro Shepherd scored the highest 20 runs for Men in Maroon, no other batter was able to cross the mark of twenty runs, and Windies' eight batters only managed to score the single-digit mark. It was Sri Lankan bowlers who ruled over the WI batting lineup and did not give them even a single chance to make a comeback in the match.

Left spinner Dunith Wellalage got three big wickets while conceding only 9 runs in his four-over spell. Asalanka, Theekshana and Hasaranga picked two wickets each while Matheesha Pathirana got a single wicket for his side. Now, it is going to be a big challenge for the West Indies batter when they meet Sri Lanka in the series decider. West Indies must be aiming for a solid show from their top-order batters against the Hosts who have levelled the series to 1-1. Meanwhile, the Lankan Lions would not try to do something extraordinary for this match, they would try to play their natural game and try to win this series by 2-1.

SL and WI have faced each other in 17 matches in T20I. Out of these 17 games, SL won 09 games, while WI won 08 matches, making it a tight rivalry.

Match Details

Match: SL vs WI, 3rd T20I, Sri Lanka vs West Indies T20I

Date: Thursday, October 17,  2024

Time: 07:00 PM

Venue: Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium, Dambulla, Sri Lanka

Pitch and Weather Report

Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium is known to be a good batting pitch. The new white ball might show some movement, particularly in the lights, but once the pitch settles, batters can easily score their runs. This venue has hosted 23 T20I matches so far, out of which 10 won by batting first, and 13 won by the chasing side. The average score batting first in T20Is here is 142 runs.

With that record, both side's skippers will be keen to the crucial toss, bowl first and put pressure on the opposition by taking advantage of the deck. Batters, though, can expect a nice time here and the fielding side would try to restrict them to under 160-165 runs.

During the match, the temperature in Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium is predicted to be around 25-32 degrees Celsius, with the humidity level crossing over 80%. There is going to be light wind on the ground at the speed of 16 km/h. There is no rain expected for the match day and it is going to be clear with periodic clouds.

SL vs WI Squads

SL: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera, Dinesh Chandimal, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Wanindu Hasaranga, Charith Asalanka (c), Avishka Fernando, Dunith Wellalage, Kamindu Mendis, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Maheesh Theekshana, Asitha Fernando, Matheesha Pathirana, Binura Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Thushara

WI: Evin Lewis, Andre Fletcher, Brandon King, Shai Hope (wk), Alick Athanaze, Rovman Powell (c), Roston Chase, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Fabian Allen, Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Springer, Terrance Hinds, Shamar Joseph

SL vs WI Probable Playing XIs

SL: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (c), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Asitha Fernando

WI: Evin Lewis, Brandon King, Shai Hope (wk), Roston Chase, Rovman Powell (c), Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Shamar Springer, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph

Match Prediction

The Hosts made a strong comeback in the second T20I match against West Indies and we back them for this series decider.

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