West Indies vs Sri Lanka...where do WI start?!

There is a heck-of-a-lot of history between these two amazing cricketing nations.

We’ve seen some memorable match-ups in Test cricket –

IN 2001

How about that magical series by the prince of batsmanship, Brian Lara, when he reeled off scores of 178, 74, 221 and 130 on the island?

IN 2010

Who can forget the epic 333 from the then 29-year old Universe Boss, Chris Gayle and his second triple century for the West Indies! As they say, when it's nice why not do it twice!

And in T20Is, well, we’ve had our fair share when these two titanic titans of the format clash – you might recall West Indies and Sri Lanka have both reached the World T20 finals on two occasions:

IN 2012

Marlon Samuels got seriously pumped up and smashed Malinga et al all over the blue-clad Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. You could hear a pin drop – there literally wasn’t a #MaroonFan in sight when Marlon single-mindedly and almost single-handedly won us our first ICC World T20 title. The Icon of Jamaica is a big day player!

But today, it’s all about the 50-over format – yeah, the ODIs – and a few great battles.

When was the last time we met Sri Lanka?

IN 2019!

Who can forget that match at the World Cup last year? Two of our young guns announced themselves on the world stage.

Fabian Allen bowled with immaculate control and held a brilliant caught and bowl.

He then batted and even better to register his maiden half century – a blazing 51 off 32 balls!!

WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE #WIvSRI WORLD CUP CLASH BELOW!

The showstopper was Nicholas Pooran – with an imperious knock of 118 off 103 balls – with four mouth-watering maximums, as he got the sell-out crowd at Chester-Le-Street on their feet.

However, the champagne moment was reserved for the Caribbean Queen, Rihanna, and some of her closest pals who accepted an invitation from the team and turned up in style.

She sipped champagne like it was the championship game, but she didn’t need her “umbrella … ella …ella” as she basked in the splendor of a sun-kissed summer’s day.

Talking about memorable moments… well….

BACK IN 2008

Shiv Chanderpaul pulled off one of the greatest cricket heists in history.

Picture this...

10 to win off two balls from Chamonda Vaas and just Shiv and last man Fidel Edwards at the crease at the Oval in Trinidad. Shiv delivered the runs and the Trini crowd started Carnival in April – every man, woman, child, and dog in the ground ran onto the hallowed turf to celebrate.

Here’s how it played out...

1. 4! Vaas to Chanderpaul, FOUR runs, well well! Vaas over pitches outside off, the field is close, and he creams that past mid-off for the boundary that was so much needed. All Shiv has to do now is hit a six! Can he pull it off?
2. 6! Vaas to Chanderpaul, SIX runs … this is the stuff dreams are made of! Of all the times Vaas has to bowl a full toss! Chanderpaul waits for the gift, clubs it across the line and the ball just goes sailing over Jayawardena at deep midwicket. He waits and waits for the ball to clear the rope, a rather long and agonising one, everyone at the ground breaks out in spontaneous celebration – a victory lap with 20,000 people! WOW!

Let's go further down memory lane, shall WI?

One day, the Master blasted off! Big Time! They didn’t call Vivian Richards the Master Blaster for nothing.

BACK IN 1987, Cricket World Cup in Pakistan and the location was the famous National Stadium in Karachi.

The King made a mammoth 181 off 125 balls with 16 fours and seven sixes – and believe it or not that wasn’t his career-best score – three years earlier he made the monumental 189 not out against England.

Basically, Viv did as Viv always did – DOMINATE!

BACK IN 1975

As the story goes, it all started in the Summer of 1975. Way back in time when ODIs were 60 overs per team and our “Men In Whites” – we didn’t play in maroon that time – had their first match of the first ever Cricket World Cup in England

The match at Old Trafford in Manchester marked the debuts of two of our greatest ever players – Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards and Anderson Montgomerie Roberts.

We made light work of the Sri Lankans that day – blowing them away for just 86 and then lick off the target with 236 balls to spare.

A few weeks later Sir Clive Lloyd had the honour of becoming the first man to lift the World Cup at Lords – a great day to remember!

NOW IN 2020?

Our Men in Maroon will renew their rivalry vs Sri Lanka Lions where they will play three matches from February, 22 to March 1 – at Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo; the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota; and the Pallakele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.

Will history repeat itself?

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WEST INDIES SQUAD vs SRI LANKA 2020