Abu Dhabi: Defending champions West Indies crashed out of the ICC T20 World Cup losing to Sri Lanka by 20 runs in a Super 12 game here on Thursday.
Young left-handed batter Charith Asalanka smashed 68 off 41 balls as Sri Lanka put on board a challenging 189/3. Asalanka and opener Pathum Nissanka (51 off 41 balls) added 91 runs in 10.1 overs.
Asalanka hit eight fours and a six in his innings. Andre Russell was the most successful West Indies bowler with figures of 2/33.
In reply, West Indies managed only 169/8. Wanindu Hasaranga had best figures of 2/19 in 4 overs as Shimron Hetmyer scored an unbeaten 81 off 54 balls.
The Sri Lankan batters played with freedom and flair. The pitches in Abu Dhabi have proved to be the best across the three venues and in-form Nissanka (51 off 41) and Asalanka (68 off 41) enjoyed batting on the surface.
Nissanka played some outrageous strokes en route his third half-century of the tournament. If the switch hit was not bold enough, the opener walked way across the off stump to whip Ravi Rampaul towards backward square leg for a boundary.
Asalanka too struck a sublime half-century and one of the highlights of his innings was a straight slog sweep off Dwayne Bravo for a six.
With nothing to lose, Sri Lankan batters played to their promising potential and made the West Indies attack look pedestrian. They also displayed that the future of Sri Lankan batting is in capable hands and with more experience at the highest level, they will only get better.
After Nissanka's dismissal, Asalanka went ballistic.
Skipper Dasun Shanka also chipped in with an unbeaten 25 off 14 balls in the death overs.
