(Pix by Kushan Pathiraja)

By M. Shamil Amit Reporting from Dambulla

Half tons by openers Brandon King and Evin Lewis laid the foundation for the West Indies to record a comfortable five-wicket win over host Sri Lanka in the first of three T20 encounters played under floodlights at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium yesterday to take a 1-0 lead.

The pair went on the rampage in the West Indies’ run chase of 180 runs as they smothered the Sri Lanka bowling attack with scant respect while giving them a sound start of 107 runs and, in the process, posting the first 50 runs in just 28 balls, which followed with King reaching his half ton in only 25 balls.

The Windies 100 runs on the board came in 49 balls, and Lewis reached his half ton in 28 balls, which had five boundaries and four sixes before Matheesha Pathirana made the breakthrough with the wicket of Lewis, who along with King put on 107 runs in only 55 balls.

From there on, despite them undergoing some anxious moments and losing wickets at regular intervals, they held onto race to the target for the loss of five wickets with five balls to spare.

Earlier, the match got off to a late start by half an hour due to wet ground, with West Indies skipper Rovman Powell winning the toss and inviting Sri Lanka to take first lease of the wicket.

Sri Lanka openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis made steady progress, but the hosts lost two quick wickets within the space of seven runs, that of Nissanka and Kusal Perera, with the score on 27 in the third over.

The Mendis duo, Kusal and Kamindu, shared a brief stand of 31 runs for the third wicket before they were separated with the dismissal of Kusal, who made 19.

Kamindu, joined by skipper Charith Asalanka, rescued the host side, and in the halfway stage of the innings, Sri Lanka was on 83 for 3, and they went on to post the sides’ 100 runs on the board in 69 balls and then shared a 50-run stand for the fourth wicket in only 31 balls.

This followed with Kamindu racing to his half ton which came in just 35 balls that comprised five boundaries and two sixes but was unfortunate to fall victim to debutant Shamar Springer having made 51 and sharing a valuable 82 runs for the fourth wicket with skipper Asalanka.

Skipper Asalanka reached his half ton in only 29 balls, but he did not last long as his brief stand of 23 runs for the fifth wicket with Bhanuka Rajapakse came to an end having 59 in 35 balls with nine boundaries. With Sri Lanka on 163 for 5 in the 19th over, they added a further 16 runs for the loss of two more wickets to end with a score of 179 for 7.

The two teams will play their second T20 encounter tomorrow.