Sri Lanka visited West Indies for the 3 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 3 T20I matches from March 03 to April 02, 2021. The bilateral series West Indies vs Sri Lanka started with the first T20 International match at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua on 3 March 2021. Pathum Nissanka and Ashen Bandara were going to make their debut for Sri Lanka. Kevin Sinclair, an off-spinner was going to play his first T20I for the WI in that match. Kieron Pollard, the West Indies captain, won the toss and decided to have the ball in hand first. Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka were sent on the crease to open and Kevin Sinclair got the new ball in hand to open the attack.
Sri Lanka got an average start and had made 40 runs at the loss of 1 wicket at the end of the mandatory Powerplay. The team completed its 50 runs on the scoreboard in 7.2 overs. Afterward, the batmen of Lanka struggled and could not stay longer on the crease. Niroshan Dickwella and Pathum Nissanka tried to handle the situation but could not get enough support from other batsmen and surrendered in front of West Indies bowlers. Niroshan Dickwella and Pathum Nissanka could contribute only 33 runs and 39 runs for his team that helped the team to add 131 runs on the scoreboard. West Indies needed 132 runs from 120 balls to win the match.
Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis were sent on the crease to chase the target and Angelo Mathews got the responsibility to open the attack with the new ball. Both the openers of the WI gave an excellent start and built up a partnership of 52 runs from just 3.1 overs. West Indies batsmen showed an outstanding performance and had scored 98 runs at the end of the first Powerplay. West Indies lost their two important wickets of Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran for a duck but did not come under pressure and maintained the run rate. The captain, Kieron Pollard at the number 5 position handled the situation very well and had made crucial 38 runs from just 11 balls that helped the Indies to achieve the target very easily in 13.1 overs.
West Indies won the 1st T20I match of WI vs SL 2021 by 4 wickets with 41 balls remaining and Kieron Pollard was named Man of the Match.