West Indies vs. Sri Lanka: Five players to watch out for

India’s victory over the West Indies in the 4th match of the tournament means that all three teams still have a fair chance to qualify for the finals. In that light, the game between Sri Lanka and West Indies becomes critical. If West Indies manage to win against Sri Lanka, they will have three wins in their bag and will head straight to the finals.

Sri Lanka and India, on the other hand, are level on points but Sri Lanka have a game in hand. If Sri Lanka manage to defeat the West Indies, then the India-Sri Lanka game will decide both the finalists. This is a characteristic of a tri-nation tournament as it allows very little room for error.

West Indies have suffered a blow ahead of the critical match as their captain Dwayne Bravo has been suspended for slow-over rate in the match against India. This was the second time that Bravo was fined and hence the suspension came into effect. Interestingly, he did not play in the last fixture against Sri Lanka either as he was nursing a minor injury.

Kieron Pollard is likely to lead the side inspite of his rather ordinary form with the bat. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will be feeling high on confidence after they exacted their revenge on India for their Champions Trophy defeat.

Here is a list of five players who can influence the fate of the match:

5. Kemar Roach

The West Indian fast bowler had a bitter-sweet Champions Trophy but he looks an improved bowler after that experience and has been consistently good in the tournament so far. His statistics do not do justice to the effort that he has put in. He was the best bowler in the first fixture against India but shot a blank against Sri Lanka.

In the next meeting against India, he took a beating in the first spell at the hands of Dhawan and Sharma but provided the all important breakthrough with the first ball of his second spell. He has to perform a specific role for the West Indies by taking wickets up-front even if it means being a little expensive. He has not been backed-up by Tino Best who bowls too many loose deliveries and is intent on pitching it short.

4. Angelo Matthews

The Sri Lankan captain has been contributing to the side with bat and ball. He bowled a terrific spell against India in the last game, picking two wickets in his eight overs at a miserly economy rate. He batted at number three and played a quickfire knock of 44 of 29 balls.

He will be batting at his usual position in the batting order against the West Indies and will need to back up the likes of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.

Lasith Malinga has been vulnerable and inconsistent in the recent past and hence he might have to do more than his bit with the ball. As the leader of the side, he needs to be a little more aggressive and pro-active when defending a moderate total.

3. Johnson Charles

He has been the biggest plus for West Indies in this tournament so far. He matches Gayle with his stroke-play at the head of the innings and has been consistent. He played a match winning knock against India when the chips were down, and looked good once again yesterday, but he was not helped by the fact that wickets kept falling at the other end.

He has a minimal back-lift but he generates an astonishing amount of power with it. He exhibited that aspect of his game when he hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar for three consecutive boundaries and the positive thing about it is that it is not mindless hitting; he prefers to play straight as much as possible, thus minimizing the risk factor. He is a dangerous commodity in the power-play overs and Sri Lanka will do themselves a favour if they get him cheaply.

2. Mahela Jayawardene

The right-handed batsman did his job in an understated manner against the Indians as Upul Tharanga grabbed the limelight for his massive innings of 174. Jayawardene has hit a purple patch ever since he got a half century in a game against England in the Champions trophy.

He has got runs for Sri Lanka in every game after that. He will be aware that the rest of the batting line-up has not been exposed to the West Indian conditions and hence he needs to continue to do the bulk of the scoring.

1. Chris Gayle

The left-handed batsman played a sensational knock when these two teams met in the opening game of the series. He has been quiet ever since. He was shackled by the swing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav against India as he tried to attack them from the very first ball.

He will not be facing any major threat in that respect against Sri Lanka and can steal the match if Sri Lanka do not put a massive total on the board. West Indies need to win this game to keep their fortune in their own hands and another Gayle-storm can do the trick.