CWC'19: Key players to watch out in Sri Lanka-West Indies match

Sri Lanka will lock horns with West Indies in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup at Riverside Durham on Monday.

Sri Lankan team is almost out of the knock-out stages of the World Cup as they are at the seventh position of the teams standing with six points.

In case, Sri Lanka somehow manages to win their next two matches including one against Windies, then they will move to ten points. Apart from winning their games, they have to hope for the loss of Pakistan, England and Bangladesh in their upcoming fixtures.

While on the other hand, the Caribbean team is out of the World Cup as they stand at the bottom of the standings at the ninth spot. In their seven matches so far Windies only won a single game and hold three points.

Although the team displayed the poor performance in the tournament till now, they will look to end it on a winning note.

Here are the key players to watch out in Lanka-Windies clash:

Chris Gayle

The 39-year-old big hitter is playing his last World Cup. Gayle is a promising batsman who gives a brilliant start to his team in the top-order. The left-hander has featured in 295 ODIs and has 10,000 plus runs under his belt. Gayle scored a fifty off just 34 balls against Pakistan in their World Cup opener and has scored a quickfire knock of 21 runs against Australia. In West Indies' match against New Zealand, which the Caribbean side almost pulled off, Gayle played crucial innings of 87 runs and also took the pricey wicket of Ross Taylor.

Dimuth Karunaratne

Sri Lankan skipper Karunaratne played a knock of 97 runs against Australia and contributed unbeaten 52 runs against New Zealand. Karunaratne has 283 runs in the tournament and he is in great form and leading the team in batting.

Sheldon Cottrell

Cottrell is known for his signature style - marching and stopping with a salute. He is a vital player for the Caribbean side. Against Pakistan in the first match, Cottrell picked the crucial wicket of Imam-ul-Haq. He continued his form against Australia and returned with two wickets of David Warner and Glenn Maxwell. In the last match, Cottrell rattled New Zealand's top-order and scalped four wickets.

Lasith Malinga

One of the best pacers in the world, Lasith Malinga is the master of the slow ball, which makes him a go-to wicket-taker. During the 2019 IPL final, the Sri Lankan's feat helped Mumbai Indians secure a close victory over Chennai Super Kings. The 35-year-old bagged four wickets against England, taking his total to nine wickets in the World Cup so far.