HAM­BAN­TO­TA – Tal­is­man­ic cap­tain Hay­ley Matthews re­turned from in­jury but West In­dies Women’s win­ning touch still de­sert­ed them, as they lost the open­ing Twen­ty20 In­ter­na­tion­al by four wick­ets in Sri Lan­ka on Mon­day.

The 26-year-old, who was side­lined for the last two One-Day In­ter­na­tion­als of the pre­ced­ing three-match se­ries, top-scored with a run-a-ball 30 with five fours to help her strug­gling side up to 134 for eight off their 20 overs at the Mahin­da Ra­japak­sa In­ter­na­tion­al Sta­di­um.

Sri Lan­ka Women then got 35 apiece from Vish­mi Gu­naratne and Harshitha Sama­rawick­ra­ma as they reeled in their tar­get with eight balls to spare, to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match se­ries.

The chase ebbed and flowed, the hosts com­fort­ably placed at 60 for one in the 10th over be­fore los­ing their way to be 116 for six in the 17th over, and in dan­ger of de­feat.

How­ev­er, Ni­lak­shi­ka Sil­va (17 not out) and Ama Kan­chana (sev­en not out) put on a pre­cious 21 in an un­bro­ken sev­enth wick­et stand to haul Sri Lan­ka over the line.

Sent in, West In­dies Women lost vet­er­an Stafanie Tay­lor to in­jury at nine with­out loss in the third over but Qiana Joseph, who struck three fours and a six in an 18-ball 20, joined Matthews to stretch the first wick­et stand to 40.

Joseph missed a heave in the sev­enth over and was bowled by off-spin­ning cap­tain Chamari Atha­p­aththu (4-29) and She­maine Camp­belle fol­lowed cheap­ly for five, lbw miss­ing a sweep at off-spin­ner Priyad­har­shani Fer­nan­do (3-28), to leave West In­dies on 50 for two in the ninth over.

Two part­ner­ships then got the vis­i­tors up to their even­tu­al to­tal. First, Matthews post­ed 27 for the third wick­et with Chedean Na­tion (8) be­fore Al­leyne added a fur­ther 33 for the sev­enth wick­et with Afy Fletch­er (14 not out).

In re­ply, Sri Lan­ka lost Atha­p­aththu for one in the third over with 14 runs on the board, off-spin­ner Matthews get­ting the left-han­der to hole out on the ropes at deep mid-wick­et.

But Gu­naratne, who faced 25 balls and struck half-dozen fours, put on 46 for the sec­ond wick­et with Sama­rawick­ra­ma who in turn added 24 for the fourth with Hasi­ni Per­era (20), to put the home side in sight of vic­to­ry.

CMC

Scores:

WEST IN­DIES WOMEN 134 for eight off 20 overs (Hay­ley Matthews 30, Aaliyah Al­leyne 26; Chamari Atha­p­aththu 4-29, In­oshi Priyad­har­shani 3-28)

SRI LAN­KA WOMEN 137 for six off 18.4 overs (Vish­mi Gu­naratne 35, Harshitha Sama­rawick­ra­ma 35; Afy Fletch­er 2-29)

Sri Lan­ka Women won by four wick­ets.