I asked Jason Holder to block him out – Fabian Allen

Fabian Allen powered West Indies to a series win with his all-round abilities put to the test. Opening with the new ball and walking in to bat to face the hat-trick ball – Allen took the challenge like a pro and nailed it.

The 18th over bowled by Sri Lankan leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga was the talking point of the match as Jason Holder decided to block it out with West Indies needing 27 runs to win in 18 balls with just 3 wickets in hand. Holder constantly denied a single to put Allen on strike. If not for the no-ball and the free hit Windies would have been chasing 27 in last 2 overs.

Hasaranga walked in to bowl the 18th over of the match with match figures of 3-0-6-2 after Lakshan Sandakan picked 2 back to back wickets in the form of Rovman Powell and Dwayne Bravo just the previous over to put Windies on the back foot. Jason Holder took the opportunity off the free hit in Hasaranga over to hit a six and block the remainder of the over.

Windies all-rounder Fabian Allen clarified what happened in the middle to sort out the different opinions coming in the media and fans alike.

“I said I’m not comfortable batting against him (Wanindu Hasaranga), so I told Jason Holder to block him out and I’ll finish it.” Fabian Allen said.

Fabian Allen unleashed himself on to Akila Dananjaya the next over which went for 22 runs to help West Indies clinch the match and the series. Dananjaya finished with match figures of 4-0-53-0. Allen struck 6, 6, 2, 1 & 6 in that over to take Windies home!

Allen also opened with the new ball and produced match figures of 4-0-13-1 which included a stunning return catch to remove the dangerous Danushka Gunathilaka.

Match Summary

Sri Lanka 131-4 in 20 overs

Dinesh Chandimal 54*(46) – Ashen Bandara 44*(35)

West Indies 134-7 in 19 overs

Fabian Allen 21*(6) – Jason Holder 14*(23)

Lendl Simmons 26 (18) – Nicholas Pooran 23 (18)

West Indies won by 3 wickets