Live Score

WI won by 5 wickets

11:01 PM IST & Local Time: West Indies begin the tour of Sri Lanka with a thumping 5-wicket win in the first T20I. The bowlers did well on a flat track to restrict Sri Lanka to 179 from their 20 overs and thanks to brilliance from Brandon King and Evin Lewis who stitched together a century stand for the opening wicket, the visitors cruised to an easy win with 5 balls to spare. Earlier in the match, West Indies won the toss and opted to bowl first. It was a delayed start because of inclement weather in Dambulla. Kamindu Mendis continued his brilliant run from Test cricket into the shortest format and scored a fine half-century. Skipper Charith Asalanka also scored a half-century helping Sri Lanka get to 179/7 from 20 overs. Romario Shepherd got two while Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, and Shamar Springer got one wicket apiece. In reply, the two returning batters for the West Indies got their team off to a flying start. Brandon King and Evin Lewis added 74 runs in the powerplay. Both batters scored a half-century and put on a 107-run partnership for the opening wicket. Lewis perished for 50 off 28 but King smacked a few more boundaries after getting to his half-century and made 63 off 33 to put the West Indies in the driver's seat. Shai Hope struggled to get going and fell cheaply. Roston Chase played a scratchy knock of 19 off 16. Rovman Powell also struggled in the middle and made 13 off 18. Sherfane Rutherford (14* off 12) made sure that there was no more hiccups and got the visitors over the line with five balls to spare. Stick around as well will be back with the post-match presentation...

11:12 PM IST and Local Time: Roshan Abeysinghe is ready with the post-match ceremony...

Player of the Match: Brandon King

Brandon King (POTM): "Yeah, thank you. Obviously my role is to try and get the team off to a good start, it is a nice wicket here. Good that it came off. Yeah, it was tough. Been out for a couple of months, but glad to be back on the field. I think the pitch got better in the second innings. As openers, we try and take advantage of the powerplay and glad that we could get the team off to a good start. Chasing the score like 180, you have to have a good powerplay. Our roles are very clear and we always take that risk to get the team off to a really good start."

Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka Captain): "Ah... But my point of view is more of good shots than bad balls. West Indies batters batted really well. Still, we could have done better in the powerplay. I was still experimenting. I wanted to give some over for Chamindu Wickramasinghe. He is a part-time bowler. It didn't work for us. I will go back to Maheesh Theekshana in the next game. We batted well and that is a plus point. We need to improve a few areas going into the next game. Powerplay bowling is one of the main areas of improvement and that is the main concern for me as a captain. We will have a chat about it in the team meeting."

Rovman Powell (West Indies Captain): "Yeah, definitely. It is important to take early lead when you come to Sri Lanka. They are a good team at home. Yeah toss does help but whatever you do, you have to be at the top of your game. In T20 format, individual performances win you games. That is what I tell my team that if individuals stand up and perform, more often than not, the team will win. We want players to play their natural game. It's a combination that has worked well for us."

That is the end of our coverage as well. West Indies thump Sri Lanka in the series opener to go 1-0 up in the three-match series. The second T20I will be played at the same venue on Tuesday. For now, I am AkshayaKrishna Polya, signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Ajay Pal Singh and scorer/analyst Ghanendra Singh Thakur, who brought you all the live action of this fixture. We will meet again. Until then, its cheers!