Abu Dhabi – West Indies won the toss and chose to field against Sri Lanka in their ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.
The Windies are unchanged, and there is only one change for Sri Lanka, with Binura Fernando replacing Lahiru Kumara.
West Indies chances for semi-final qualification are not bright, after they stuttered to losses in their first two matches when England beat them by six wickets and South Africa claimed an eight-wicket win.
The Caribbean side bounced back, however, with a three-run win over Bangladesh in their third match.
West Indies have only two points and their net run rate (NRR) of -1.60 is low and the most points they can accumulate is six, which will result in an NRR shoot-out in Group 1.
They will need a massive win, therefore, against the Sri Lankans to put them back in the reckoning, especially after Australia, one of the other teams in the group, boosted their NRR with a handy eight-wicket win over the Bangladeshis in a low-scoring contest earlier in the day in Dubai.
Teams:
West Indies: Kieron Pollard (captain), Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (wicketkeeper), Andre Russell, Jason Holder, Dwayne Bravo, Akeal Hosein, Ravi Rampaul.
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera (wicketkeeper), Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Binura Fernando.
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan), Langton Rusere (Zimbabwe).
TV umpire: Paul Wilson (Australia).
Match referee: David Boon (Australia).
Reserve umpire: Richard Kettleborough (England).
(AR)
