Chinthaka jayasinghe

The West Indies Masters: The stars of yesteryears took centerstage once again under the floodlights of the BCA Stadium in Vadodara, with the Sri Lanka Masters riding a crafty half century from Asela Gunaratne and disciplined death bowling to beat the West Indies Masters by 21 runs in a thrilling International Masters League (IML) 2025 encounter on Thursday.

Put in to bat on a sluggish wicket, Sri Lanka Masters skipper Kumar Sangakkara (47) steered his side from a shaky start with a calculative knock, before Asela Gunaratne (64) came up with a gritty half century to take charge of anchoring the side, despite the fall of wickets at regular intervals, and eventually propelled his side to 173/9 in their 20 overs.

The West Indies Masters displayed excellent athleticism on the field, effecting a couple of run-outs even as star off-spinner Ashley Nurse used the conditions well to claim three top-order wickets, including the prized scalp of Sangakkara, after the seasoned southpaw set the tone for the Sri Lanka Masters with his 42-ball knock that contained six hits to the fence.