For the third match running, Sri Lanka batted first, after being inserted by West Indies at Sabina Park in the 3rd and final T20I. The series is level at 1-1, after Sri Lanka responded to West Indies’ opening game supremacy with a dominant performance of their own on Saturday.
Now just 24 hours later, Sri Lanka will be looking to repeat the feat and secure their first-ever T20I series win away in the Caribbean.
West Indies’ hopes of defending that home record is boosted by the return of Jason Holder, the Player-of-the-Match in the first game who missed the second with a niggle. There’s also a first game on tour for promising young batter Ackeem Auguste. Making way are Shamar Springer and Romario Shepherd. Sri Lanka, unsurprisingly, have sought to stick to a winning formula as they named an unchanged XI.
The pitch at Sabina Park is a new one, one coated by some rare daylong sun in Kingston. That said, it’s not expected to be as hard a surface as in the previous two matches, with the curator not having as much preparation time owing to the quick turnaround. This means the ball might not come on as well to the bat, requiring patience from the batters. Expect spinners, and seamers with good cutters in their arsenal, to be influential.
West Indies XI : 1 Shai Hope (capt, wk), 2 Brandon King, 3 Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Roston Chase, 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Ackeem August, 9 Matthew Forde, 10 Akeal Hosein, 11 Shamar Joseph
Sri Lanka XI: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (capt, wk), 3 Kamil Mishara, 4 Pavan Rathnayake, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Dunith Wellalage 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Eshan Malinga
