Pallekele, March 6: Andre Russell's 14-ball blitz took West Indies to a seven-wicket win in their second and final T20I against Sri Lanka to give them a 2-0 series win. Russell smashed six sixes in his knock of 40 runs to help West Indies chase down a target of 156 with three overs to spare.
Sri Lanka were restricted to 155/6, despite Dashun Shanaka and Thisara Perera smashing 46 runs in the last four overs of the innings. West Indies were first buoyed by a 46-run stand between Brandon King and Shimron Hetmyer. King was especially effective against Lasith Malinga, who would later suffer at the hands of Russell too.
Hetmyer acted as the anchor to the chase and Russell came in in the 13th over after the dismissal of Rovman Powell who struggled to get going. Russell smashed consecutive sixes off the last two balls of the 14th over and ended the next over with a six that went miles into the sky and deep into the stands.
Malinga bowled the 16th over which went for 15 runs thanks to two sixes from Russell and the latter ended the chase with a six off the last ball of the next over. Hetmyer was unbeaten on 43 off 42 balls.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 155/6 in 20 overs (Dashun Shanaka 31, Angelo Mathews 23; Fabian Allen 2/24) vs West Indies 158/3 in 17 overs (Brandon King 43, Shimron Hetmyer 43 n.o.; Angelo Mathews 1/26)