Toss West Indies opt to bowl v Sri Lanka
West Indies won the toss and opted to bowl in the second – and final – T20I in Pallekele, despite having won comfortably batting first on Wednesday. The decision may have been influenced by the threat of rain later in the evening – teams generally preferring to be batting if Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculations come into play.The visitors made no changes to their winning combination, however, which meant that legspinner Hayden Walsh Jr continued to sit out, while left-arm fingerspinner Fabian Allen remained the only frontline spin option in the side. Sheldon Cottrell and Oshane Thomas, who took five wickets on Wednesday, were the main fast bowlers.
Sri Lanka switched out the out-of-form Isuru Udana for the younger, faster Lahiru Kumara, perhaps having seen the pace and bounce which Thomas had gained from the Pallekele surface two nights ago. There were no other changes – the top order remaining in tact despite its failure in the first T20I. Niroshan Dickwella has now sat out the whole tour, despite having been in both 15-member squads.
West Indies: 1 Llendl Simmons, 2 Brandon King, 3 Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Kieron Pollard (capt.), 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Rovman Powell, 8 Dwayne Bravo,9 Fabian Allen, 10 Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Oshane Thomas
Sri Lanka: 1 Kusal Perera (wk), 2 Avishka Fernando, 3Kusal Mendis, 4 Shehan Jayasuriya, 5Angelo Mathews, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Lasith Malinga (capt.), 10 Lahiru Kumara 11 Lakshan Sandakan
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