West Indies beat Sri Lanka by 25 runs to t♉ake a 1-0 lead in the two-match T20I series.
Opener Lendl Simmons slam𝔉med unbeaten 67 off 51 deliveries while quick-fꦏire knocks from all-rounder Andre Russell and captain Kieron Pollard took Windies to 196/4 in 20 overs.
In reply, Kusal Perera hit his 12ꦚth T20I fifty but Oshane Thomas scalped a five-wicket haul 𓂃in the powerplay overs to guide the visitors to victory.
Earlier, Pollard became the first player in the history of T20 cricket to feature in 500 matches. Second on the list is Pollard’s compatriot Dwayne Bravo, who has taken part in 453 matches so far in his trophy-laden career. Chris Gayle takes the third spot in the illustrious list as he has featured in 404 T20 matches.
celebratesᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ his 5️⃣0️⃣0️𝓀⃣th T20 with a one of a kind Jersey!🙌🏾Congrats Skipper! 👏🏽
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket)
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the match:
C💎ongrats on the 500 ⛎and welcome to the 10K Club, 💪🏿👍🏿🤫
— Chris Gayle (@henrygayle)
Pretty good effort by the minnows to lose by just 25 runs to the World Ch♊amp✅ions. Work ahead for Pollard & co.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh)
Windies win by 25 runs! 🎉
Oshane Thomas the star with 5/28 🌟
— ICC (@ICC)
Two weeks ago, Oshane Thomas was recovering from an accident that sent his car cartwheeling. Today, he becomes the second man ever to take a five-wicket haul inside a T20I 🌜p🎀owerplay.
— Sreshth Shah (@sreshthx)
10,000 T20 runs. 500 T20 matches. Legend👌💙
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan)
10000 T20 runs in his 500th match for . He has also taken 279 wickets and isꦫ a really good captain.. A T20 legend..
— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar)
Wes꧅t Indies beat Sri Lanka by 25 runs and take 1-0 lead in the 2-match series!
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC)
What a way to start the series 👏🏽.. ♊A perfect outing for th🌳e
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket)
H😼ow good was our Man of the Match Oshane Thomas today?🔥
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket)