Simmons (97) steers WI ‘A’ to victory

Playing at the Tyronne Fernando Stadium, the 20-year-old right hander slammed 97 from 102 balls and guided the regional side to 165 for two off 34.1 overs, in response to Sri Lanka’s 164 all out in 43.2 overs.

Simmons, one of the seven late replacements called up to the ‘A’ team, hammered 15 fours in his innings and shared a solid opening stand of 111 inside 22 overs with Sewnarine Chattergoon whose 32 came from 69 balls and included four fours.

When the left handed Chattergoon was bowled by leg spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi, captain Daren Ganga, who finished unbeaten on 14, shared a 47-run, second wicket stand to ensure there were no hiccups at the end. With the West Indies just seven runs away from victory, Simmons was unfortunately bowled by fast bowler Dilhara Fernando without completing a deserved century.

Earlier, 21-year-old fast bowler Richard Kelly grabbed four for 38 to destroy the Sri Lankan innings and set up the West Indies victory.

He sent back both openers Avishka Gunawardene (10) and Shantha Kalavitigoda (10) cheaply to reduce Sri Lanka to 23 for two in the seventh over before returning to clean up the tail.

Medium pacer Darren Sammy, who finished with two for 22, then inflicted further damage on Sri Lanka when he prised out the dangerous pair of Upul Tharanga (two) and Saman Jayantha (one) to leave the home side floundering at 26 for four in the ninth over.

Russell Arnold and Prasanna Jayawardene, both of whom struck 44, then combined to bail their side out with a stand of 89 for the fifth wicket.

When Simmons trapped Arnold LBW with the score on 115 in the 29th over and David Bernard bowled Jayawardene with only eight runs added, Sri Lanka were on the ropes and never recovered. Farveez Maharoof with 30 from 49 balls provided a late flourish to the Sri Lanka innings.