Yesterday’s T20I match between Sri Lanka and West Indies at Pallekele saw Lankan all-rounder Shehan Jayasuriya come up with a sensational fielding effort. The 28-year old pulled-off a stunning catch at deep square-leg to send West-Indies all-rounder Rovman Powell back to the pavilion.
West Indies were looking solid in their chase of the 156-run target the hosts had set them. Powell and Shimron Hetmyer had stitched a firm 34-run partnership and looked well set to finish-off the match by themselves. That wasn’t to be, however, as the Lankans did manage to land one-final speed breaker in West Indies innings. It happened during the 13th over; for the fourth delivery of his over, pacer Dasun Shanka bowled a length delivery. On-strike Powell attempted to clear the fence, and lofted the ball deep into the night-sky.
Shehan, who was fielding at the leg-side, did a quick-backtrack, and cupped his hands just in time to collect the catch. That’s not the end, though. The momentum of the air-borne ball forced him down to the ground- barely inches away from touching the boundary rope. Shehan acted fast- tossing the ball up just before hitting the ropes, and just as quickly getting back on his feet to complete the catch. His animated celebrations well-summarize the intensity of his fielding efforts.
Wow!!!!#SLvWI pic.twitter.com/WPcn2r9emX
— Darpan Jain (@darpanjain103) March 6, 2020
Match Summary
Jayasuriya’s catch was, unarguably, the highlight of an otherwise lackluster field-outing for the home-side. Powell’s dismissal, in fact, opened up the floodgates for West Indies to score quick, as the brutal Andre Russell walked in to bat. Keeping up with his hard-hitting reputation, Russell clobbered the Lankan bowlers all-around the park, and finished with 40-runs off 14-balls. His pyrotechnics helped the tourists register a revenge 2-0 white-wash, after a 3-0 drubbing in the preceding ODI series. Russell, for his aggressive batting throughout both the matches, finished as the Man of the Series.
Earlier, Sri-Lanka could collect only 155-runs with the bat, courtesy some smart bowling from the West Indies bowlers. Fabian Allen dominated the scorecard with figures of 4-0-24-2. Dasun Shanka top-scored for the hosts with 21-ball 34-run innings.
