Badree, Fletcher steamroll Lanka

BANGALORE: Samuel Badree stifled Sri Lanka with an exceptional spell before Andre Fletcher hammered an unbeaten 84 as the West Indies cruised to a sevenwicket win over the defending champions in a Group I World Twenty20 match, here on Sunday. The Caribbean side ticked all the boxes right from winning the toss to restricting Sri Lanka to 122 for nine and finally overhauling the target in 18.2 overs. They now sit at the top of the table in Group I with two wins from as many matches. Leg-spinner Badree tore into the Sri Lankan top-order by hitting the right areas outside the off stump with amazing consistency as he gave away only 12 runs in his four overs and accounted for three batsmen after opting to bowl. Sri Lanka struggled to recover after losing half the side inside 10 overs and it was Thisara Perera’s fiery 40-run knock that gave them something to fight to for. The huge crowd wanted to see the big-hitting Chris Gayle to bat but he did not come out to open after pulling his hamstring while fielding. Fletcher was no Gayle but he entertained the crowd with his power-hitting. He punished the bowlers by smashing six fours and five sixes in his knock that came off 64 balls. The track was helping the spinners but Fletcher negated it well by reaching to pitch of the ball. He batted fearlessly from one end but the other West Indies batsmen struggled. Opener Johnson Charles (10) and Marlon Samuels (3) were victims of turning balls with Milinda Siriwardana (2/ 33) and Jeffrey Vandersay troubling the batsmen a lot. In the absence of Gayle, the West Indies innings lacked pace but they had wickets in hand and a manageable required run-rate. Fletcher completed his half-century with a single off Siriwardana in the and 13th over and 38 off his 50 runs had come from fours and sixes. His innings was a superb mix of caution and aggression considering the conditions. His monstrous sixes off Siriwardana at the start of the 15th over nearly pushed Sri Lanka out of the game and it was matter of time that West Indies complete the chase. Sri Lanka did not help their cause by dropping catches. Earlier, Badree’s spell meant that Sri Lanka had lost half the side before the 10th over. Runs were hard to come by and there was a time when the gap between two boundaries was 44 balls. (PTI)