On a deck that witnessed Sri Lankan batsmen fail miserably against the West Indies bowling attack on Sunday, Caribbean opener Andre Fletcher hogged all the limelight, smashing an unbeaten 84 to propel them to their second win of their campaign.
With crowd favourite Chris Gayle not coming out to bat owing to a twitch in the hamstring during the encounter, Fletcher treated them to a show, smashing the Lankan bowlers all around the park on a slow turner.
“It was a little difficult. The ball started spinning a lot, but I told myself after seeing a few wickets fall that it’s my opportunity to bat through. So I gave it my best to see the match home and I am happy I did that,” said Fletcher.
During the chase of the modest target, the Bengalureans fans, who thronged the venue for their star RCB player kept chanting, “we want Gayle, we want Gayle” after the fall of the third Windies wicket. On one occasion when Fletcher was caught behind, albeit first bounce by ‘keeper Dinesh Chandimal off pacer Dushmantha Chameera, the fans were eager to have him walk back, hoping to catch Gayle in action.
“I wouldn’t think they wanted me to get out, but Chris will always be Chris, you know. He is a great T20 batsman and everybody would love to see him bat. Me, myself will also love to see him bat as well, watch him from the other end,” admitted the 28-year-old candidly.
Making full use of the opportunity with a match-winning knock, the aggressive batsman said he was happy to bat at any position for the team. “I cannot say that (opening). It depends on the team we select and the opposition we play. I cannot say that I would be opening or even playing the next game, so I have to just keep my fingers crossed,” he revealed.
Meanwhile, Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews blamed the middle-order for their lacklustre batting display. “I thought the middle order let us down. We batted quite well in the last game, we were being positive, but today we didn’t assess the wicket as such. It wasn’t the ideal wicket for batting — it wasn’t coming on well — we had to fight it out there. We just kept losing wickets,” he rued.
Mathews, however, praised Thisara Perera for showing a fighting spirit.
