King and Lewis' quick 50s lead the West Indies to a 5-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their T20 series opener

DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka (AP) — Openers Brandon King and Evin Lewis scored half-centuries and shared a 107-run stand in 55 balls on Sunday to help West Indies to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first of their three Twenty20s Lanka to lead matches.

Sri Lanka scored 179-7 in their 20 overs after West Indies captain Rovman Powell won the toss and opted for the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium.

In response, the West Indies reached 180-5 and took an early lead in the series with five deliveries remaining.

King hit one six and 11 fours in his 63 runs and 33 deliveries, while Lewis hit four sixes and five fours for his 28-ball 50.

The pair maintained a run rate of over 13 runs per over at times to create a solid platform.

After Lewis was out in the 10th over – caught by Chamindu Wickramasinghe off fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana – the hosts took two more wickets for 21 runs to threaten a comeback. But the West Indies middle order maintained the momentum to take their team over the finish line.

Pathirana took two wickets for Sri Lanka.

Earlier, captain Charith Asalanka (59) and Kamindu Mendis (51) led Sri Lanka's batting line-up with a competitive total.

Asalanka faced 35 deliveries and hit nine fours and Mendis hit two sixes and five fours in his 40-ball knock.

Fast bowler Romario Shepherd took 2-39 for the West Indies.

The second game will be played on Tuesday at the same venue.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket