ICC World T20: Red-hot West Indies set for Sri Lanka

West Indies opener Chris Gayle (left) shares a light moment with chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd in Bengaluru on Saturday. (Photo: R. Samuel)

With an eye on a semi-final spot, defending champions Sri Lanka minus the injured Lasith Malinga take on a red-hot West Indies in the World Twenty20 Super 10 Group 1 encounter, here on Sunday.

With the big-hitting Chris Gayle in blazing form and also playing at his ‘home town’, a run feast is on the cards for the locals at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

In their opener at the Wankhede in Mumbai, Gayle’s power-packed unbeaten century steered the Caribbeans home comfortably against England.

On the other hand, Lanka rode on Tillakaratne Dilshan’s knock to overhaul the target against minnows Afghanistan at the Eden Gardens.

In their build-up to the mega event, Sri Lanka succumbed to three back-to-back losses in the Asia Cup T20 and later slumped to two losses in the warm-up games.

To cap it all, Lanka suffered a huge blow as Malinga had to return home due to a knee injury and the slinger’s absence could affect the their campaign.

On Sunday, Darren Sammy’s side will be expecting Gayle to continue his dominant form while for the rivals, it will be daunting task stopping him on a batting-friendly surface.

Apart from Gayle, the West Indies boast T20 specialists and the depth in their batting line-up is also a concern for a struggling Angelo Mathews-skippered Lanka.

Following their convincing win, West Indies are expected to stick to the winning combination.

Spearhead Jerome Taylor, all-rounders Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo and Carlos Braithwaite make the pace department while leg-spinner Samuel Badree and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn are likely to man the spin attack.

Lanka are not short of experience either. With Mathews leading from the front and with a better understanding of the conditions in the sub-continent, the Lankans have always fared well in tackling the Gayle-storm.

In World T20 matches so far, Lanka have won five out of their six clashes. The only occasion Lanka went down was in the World T20 title clash four summers ago against the West Indies.

At 39, opener Dilshan has struck form at the right moment for Lanka. The dashing batsman, who made a match-winning 56-ball 83 not out, will hope to carry on his fine run against the destructive Windies. Fellow opener Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne and Thisara Perera make a sturdy top-order but have failed to covert good starts.

With Malinga missing, pacers Nuwan Kulasekara and Dushmantha Chameera and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath are expected to share the bowling responsibilities.