March 5, 2020, 8:17 p.m.
The road to the ICC T20 World Cup continues on Friday for our world champions.
Kieron Pollard’s team will look to tick more boxes when they face Sri Lanka in the second and final T20 International. The two teams will lock horns at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in the central town of Kandy as West Indies look to end the tour on a high note and take the series with another comprehensive win, to follow up the triumph by 25 runs on Wednesday.
First ball is 7pm local time (9:30am Eastern Caribbean/8:30am Jamaica). Fans can catch the action online available on https://www.youtube.com/user/TheOfficialSLC
Global weather leader https://www.accuweather.com has offered match-day weather insights. Some sunshine with a thunderstorm in spots in the afternoon; with patches of cloud around the time of the toss. However, we should have a full match.
Teams batting first have generally benefited at the venue, having won 12 of the 18 completed games played here. For the reigning world champions it will the fifth T20I for the year – following the tour by Ireland to the Caribbean in January and Wednesday series-opener. A victory on Friday would make it three wins in row.
“For us, we’re confident and humble. Humbly trying to find a way to get back our brand of cricket. The World Cup is only a few months away but more importantly is that we bond as a team, we win cricket matches together and we get to understand each and everyone’s game, so that when we end up in a difficult situation, we know exactly how to get out. So yes, the World T20 in October is the focus but we firstly have to deal with what is in front of us,” captain Kieron Pollard said.
“You have to play what’s in front of you. They have world class bowlers in their line-up. Lasith [Malinga], first couple overs, he was brilliant. So, you have to look at opportunities where you can score. Next game we may try to go at the seamers, we don’t know. At the end of the day, you have to play what is in front of you and the situation dictates how you play. That’s what we’re going to do. We’re not going to actually plan to target any bowlers in particular. We’re just going to play cricket how it needs to be played; hopefully we tick the right boxes and in the end we can be smiling.”
-CWI
