WI vs SL, 3rd T20I: Simmons, Allen guide hosts to series win

St John’s [Antigua], March 8 (ANI): Fabien Allen played an unbeaten knock of 21 runs off just six balls as West Indies defeated Sri Lanka by three wickets in the third and final T20I on Monday here at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.
With this win, the hosts won the three-match series 2-1. Both teams would now lock horns in the three-match ODI series, beginning Wednesday.
Chasing 132, Windies got off to a steady start as openers Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis put on 37 runs inside the first five overs. However, Sri Lanka came back into the match as the side dismissed Lewis (21), Simmons (26), Chris Gayle (13), Kieron Pollard (0), reducing Windies to 75/4 in the 12th over.
Nicholas Pooran (23), Rovman Powell (7), Dwayne Bravo (0) also did not manage to stay at the crease to guide Windies home but in the end, Jason Holder (14*) and Allen (21*) took the hosts over the line by three wickets and six balls to spare.
Earlier, Dinesh Chandimal’s unbeaten knock of 54 helped Sri Lanka post 131/4 in the allotted twenty overs.
Batting first, Sri Lanka got off to a bad start as the side lost Gunathilaka (9), Pathum Nissanka (5), Niroshan Dickwella (4), and Angelo Mathews (11) with just 46 runs on the board.
Chandimal (54*) and Ashen Bandara (44*) then got together at the crease and the duo formed an unbeaten stand of 85 runs to take Sri Lanka’s score past the 130-run mark.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 131/4 (Dinesh Chandimal 54*, Ashen Bandara 44, Fabien Allen 1-13); West Indies 134/7 (Lendl Simmons 26, Fabien Allen 21*, Lakshan Sandakan 3-29). (ANI)