The Windies take a 1-0 lead after Lewis and King outshone Kamindu and Asalanka

(ESPN Cricinfo) – Brandon King and Evin Lewis smashed top-order 107 off 55 balls to beautifully put the West Indies on course to their target of 180 in the first T20I against Sri Lanka.

Although the hosts' middle overs bowlers slowed the West Indies' progress, they never found themselves in serious trouble. They had enough batting power to sustain the chase and Sherfane Rutherford finished the game with a four off the first ball of the final over.

Shamar Joseph was the West Indies' most economical bowler, conceding just 27 in his four overs. Although King and Lewis later outshone them, Sri Lanka also had two half-centurions in Kamindu Mendis and Charith Asalanka, whose 82-run stand was the most significant of the innings.

King, Lewis makes the power play perfect

Lewis hit the first boundaries and launched Chamindu Wickramasinghe for a six and a four at the end of the first over, but it was King who made the biggest impression during the fielding restrictions. King's standard action was to run at the bowlers and hurl them to the ground. His hand-eye coordination was so good that he managed to do it twice

against seamer Asitha Fernando in the second over before targeting Maheesh Theekshana's spin in the third over.

At the end of the powerplay, King had eight fours (some of which were close, to be fair) and 39 runs in 20 balls. Lewis, who had almost exclusively busted boundaries for Wickramasinghe, had 31 from 16 balls. And the West Indies had 74 from the first six.

They kept playing and in the end Lewis managed 50 from 28 and King 63 from 33. The requirement was pretty simple after their attack.

WI quicks strike early

In contrast, Sri Lanka's top team failed to thrive on a helpful surface, thanks in part to the sharp bowling of the West Indies quicks. Romario Shepherd caught the edge of Pathum Nissanka's bat three times, conceded fours behind the wicket and then had him caught by the keeper on the third occasion to create the West Indies' first breakthrough. Kusal Perera was then bowled by Shamar Joseph at the start of the following over.

When Kusal Mendis was also bowled over by an excellent, quicker throw from Gudakesh Motie and Sri Lanka were 58 for 3, it felt as if the West Indies were on the verge of opening the game.

Kamindu may be good at cricket

But then perhaps it's time to admit that Kamindu seems to know what he's doing on a cricket field. Having recently become the fastest batsman to reach 1,000 Test runs since 1950, he scored 50 off 41 in the shortest format here, bettered in his team only by Asalanka, who hit 59 off 35. Kamindu also bowled two overs for 14, changing arms as necessary. With his left-arm spin, he took the wicket of the opposition top scorer, King, conceding figures of 1 for 14.