Holder and Rutherford seal series win after Shamar takes five

There are heists, and then there are heists, and the one at Sabina Park on Sunday will live long in the memory of those who watched it.

For 16 overs of the chase, Sri Lanka had looked in total control of their defence of 169.

But in a frenzied finish, West Indies ransacked 60 runs off just 22 deliveries to complete the chase with two balls to spare.

Sherfane Rutherford was dropped twice on the way to an unbeaten 54 off 40, and he was part of the defining stand of the match – 81 off 53 with Rovman Powell.

But despite their intervention, West Indies still needed more and it was the returning Jason Holder that delivered, smashing 21 off five balls to seal the win and the series.

The result stretched Sri Lanka’s wait for a T20I series win in the Caribbean, but more immediately, left them scratching their heads.

In terms of planning, they could not have done much more, while the pitch was tailored to their strengths – namely the spin trio of Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga and Dunith Wellalage.

The latter had even picked up skipper Shai Hope off just the second delivery of the innings, while Hasaranga snagged two through the middle. Theekshana, meanwhile overcame a tough 15-run opening over – courtesy Shimron Hetmyer – to give away just 11 off his next three.

With the bat too, Sri Lanka had done seemingly enough, with Pathum Nissanka’s fast start supplemented by some helpful middle-order cameos and bookended by a coming-of-age 43 off 28 from Wellalage.

But at the key moments, it was West Indies, who held their nerve.

Player-of-the-Match Shamar Joseph ended with career-best figures of 5-33, and did so bowling in the game’s most difficult periods – the last over of the powerplay and the final over of the innings.

And then when the game seemed over, West Indies’ fabled firepower belatedly came to the fore, as they came in clutch once more.

West Indies steal it

In the first game, West Indies struck 29 in the death overs. And in the second game, 27. With 60 needed in that same period in the decider, the odds weren’t exactly in their favour.

But across two Dushmantha Chameera overs, where the usually reliable quick struggled – searching fruitlessly for yorkers – West Indies pilfered 47 runs, and staged a comeback for the ages.

How they got there was modern West Indies cricket in a nutshell. Sri Lanka strangled the middle overs, with their trio of spinners all proving tough to get away.

The powerplay had fetched a respectable 51 – much of it owing to Hetmyer’s 32 off 19 – but the middle overs turned as sluggish as the surface, with West Indies trudging to 110-4.

But having struggled to get Sri Lanka’s death bowling away for much of the series, they capitalised on the off-colour Chameera to secure an all-time smash and grab. The pacer’s third over went for 24, and then his last for 23.

They were the 17th and 19th of the innings. From being on the verge of defeat at the end of the 16th, the game was over before the 20th had begun.

Sri Lanka, though, might wonder what might have been had they not grassed two straightforward chances from Rutherford when he was on 24 and 25.

Joseph blunts Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka had started well in the powerplay in the earlier games, and that looked to be the case on Sunday night as well.

While Kusal Mendis was for once dismissed cheaply – a chipped leading edge plucked out of the air by Matthew Forde followed by a spicy send-off and heated words – Pathum Nissanka, who has had a quiet tour by his standards, belatedly took up the attacking mantle.

On a surface that was gripping from the very first delivery, Nissanka started patiently before gradually flexing his striking chops. His 26 off 17 including two fours and two sixes.

But just as he might have been settling in for a game-defining stint, Joseph induced a top-edge and followed it up with one that straightened down the line to completely bamboozle new batter Pavan Ratnayake.

Two in two – echoing Holder’s powerplay heroics in the first game – and Sri Lanka were kept to 51-3, their lowest powerplay of the series.

Joseph would somehow better this outcome later on with a sublime triple-wicket final over to give the hosts some much-needed momentum into their chase. (ESPNcricinfo)