Sri Lanka secure maiden T20I series win over WI

Sri Lanka Women capped off their first-ever T20I series victory against West Indies with a commanding nine-wicket win in Grenada on Tuesday.

Batting first, West Indies paired Hayley Matthews with debutant Eboni Brathwaite, but the opening partnership did not last. Matthews was dismissed off her second delivery. Soon after, Shawnisha Hector was cleaned up by Inoka Ranaweera.

Brathwaite holed out early in the fourth over, pushing West Indies further into trouble. The spin combination of Inoka Ranaweera and Kavisha Dilhari tied them up in the middle overs. Placed at 42/3 after the Powerplay, they added only 34 runs over the next ten.

Deandra Dottin and Stafanie Taylor aimed to stabilize but left little time to recover the run-rate. Dottin fell lbw in the 16th over, and Taylor perished the next over attempting to take on Kavisha.

Chinelle Henry's late charge provided a boost. She thumped a six and found boundaries, with Jahzara Claxton adding a stunning reverse-sweep for six in an over that yielded 21 runs. Henry finished on 32 off 15, with the last two overs accounting for 36 runs.

In the chase, Chamari Athapaththu was dropped early but capitalized, punishing wayward lines in the Powerplay. Sri Lanka raced to 48 in the Powerplay, with 32 coming from Athapaththu. Her innings ended with a brilliant diving catch by Chinelle Henry.

Hasini Perera then took charge, hitting a majestic six off Ramharack in the 10th over. Despite turn on the surface, West Indies spinners couldn't mount pressure with the required run-rate never a concern. Imesha Dulani settled in as Perera shrewdly picked gaps.

Perera was dropped in the 13th over but cruised to her second WT20I fifty. Dulani shifted gears as they passed the 15th over mark, completing the chase with 14 balls to spare.

It was Sri Lanka's first bilateral series win against West Indies in seven attempts. Perera was Player of the Match, while Athapaththu won Player of the Series.

Brief scores:
West Indies 119/5 in 20 overs (Chinelle Henry 32*, Deandra Dottin 28; Inoka Ranaweera 2-16, Sugandika Kumari 2-32) lost to Sri Lanka 121/1 in 17.4 overs (Hasini Perera 52*, Imesha Dulani 34*; Afy Fletcher 1-14) by nine wickets.