ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Fabian Allen sealed victory for West Indies in spectacular fashion – with three magnificent sixes in the penultimate over of the third and final CG Insurance T20 International on Sunday night. The all-rounder made 21 not out off six balls and Jason Holder provided calm support at the other end to finish unbeaten on 14.
West Indies made 134-7 off 19 overs in reply to Sri Lanka’s 131-4 to win by three wickets, with six balls to spare at the Coolidge Cricket Ground. Allen was named the CG Insurance Man-of-the-Match and West Indies won the series 2-1.
The match was in the balance at the start of the 19th over with the home side still requiring 20 runs from the last 12 balls with three wickets in hand. Allen seized the moment and pulled the first ball from leg-spinner Akila Dananjaya over square leg and out of the ground. The third ball was a full toss and Allen swung it over mid-wicket and out of the ground again. The last ball was a clean strike over wide long-on for the winning six.
“It feels really great to hit the winning runs for my team and get us over the line. It wasn’t just to win the match but to win the series so it’s quite a wonderful thing for me,” Allen said. “… I just backed myself in the end. I know I can win games with the bat and I can also win games with the ball. It was a good performance overall.”
Earlier, Lendl Simmons top-scored with 26, Nicholas Pooran made 23 while Evin Lewis hit 21 for West Indies. Left-arm spinner Lakshan Sandakan took with 3-29 while leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga had another good spell of 2-13 from his four overs and was later named the CG Insurance Man-of-the-Series.
When Sri Lanka batted, Allen had impressive figures of 4-0-13-1 with his left-arm spin and set the tone for the innings with the new ball when he had opener Danushka Gunathilaka magnificently caught-and-bowled one-handed.
Dinesh Chandimal top-scored with 54 not out off 46 balls. Ashen Bandara struck an unbeaten 44 off 35 balls and together with Chandimal, put on a crucial unbroken stand of 85 for the fifth wicket to rescue the innings from 46-4 in the 10th over.
