Lewis' 61-ball century trumps Kusal's 19-ball fifty in 23-over shootout
SL scored 156 in rain-reduced game, with WI's target revised to 195, and Sherfane Rutherford smashed 50* off 26 deliveries
SL scored 156 in rain-reduced game, with WI's target revised to 195, and Sherfane Rutherford smashed 50* off 26 deliveries
Scorer: Sudeep Poojar | Commentator: Abhimanyu Bose
11.50pm Sri Lanka players line up with the trophy, having won the series, but it will of course be the West Indies players who will be the happier bunch tonight. It's the end of a wet, rain-marred ODI series, and with that, West Indies' tour of Sri Lanka. West Indies win their first ODI of 2024, and they end an 11-match losing-streak in Sri Lanka. Madushka's report is in, and you can get a recap of today's action there. For now, on behalf of Sudeep, Thilak and Madushka, it's Abhimanyu saying good night!
11.40pm Time for the presentation ceremony, which begins with Roshan Abeysinghe thanking the groundstaff for their work to make sure we could have a game despite it raining for the better parts of five hours. Truly, they did do a commendable job.
Asalanka: "I am very pleased with my performance and I think the whole team performed really well. [Does captaincy affect his batting?] To me it doesn't matter, but I am the No. 5 batter in the team and I have a job to do. When I go into bat, I don't think that I am the captain. I just want to handle the situation, and I don't take [captaincy] pressure. I think the main thing is momentum is on our side. Few areas to improve in. I hope to do well in the next series as well. Hopefully we can stick to a similar [bowling] lineup going forward."
Today's winning captain, Shai Hope: "Very big job for us. Like I said at the toss, we had something to play for today. We didn't have the best game in the field, but I was very happy with the way that we batted. I think most teams don't come to Sri Lanka and beat them at their home, so we have to take positives. [On Evin Lewis] He's an amazing player. It's great to see him back. He picked up where he left off. I am happy he scored some runs and I hope he can take that form into the next series. [On the shortened game helping Lewis] Yeah I think West Indies play the shorter format the best but Lewis is a great striker of the ball and it was great to see him. We have been playing good cricket, we need to be more consistent."
Charith Asalanka is the player of the series!
Evin Lewis is the player of the match, but he is injured so Shai Hope comes out to receive the trophy on his behalf.
11.30pm A semi-injured Evin Lews and the in-form Sherfane Rutherford have helped West Indies end this tour with a moral victory. Lewis, playing his first ODI since 2021, scored his fifth ODI century, and was limping as he hit the winning shot. Rutherford continued his tremendous form with yet another half-century. They were given a revised target of 195 after rain interrupted Sri Lanka's innings 17 overs in. Sri Lanka did really well in the six odd overs they had to bat after the restart, with Nissanka hitting a fifty and Kusal Mendis also getting to one in just 19 balls. But the West Indies batters were better today against Sri Lanka's spinners, and Lewis' experience at the top of the order paid off as he batted through, despite rolling his ankle over while running, to make sure the five dropped catches in Sri Lanka's innings did not come back to haunt West Indies. Stick with us for the presentation ceremony.
Prashant: "Despite Sri Lanka taking the series 2-1, the player of the series must undoubtedly go to Sherfane Rutherford."
John : "Rutherford. Man of the series" He's definitely a contender, but so is Asalanka you can argue. But yeah, I'd also give it to Rutherford, really. Played some big knocks under a lot of pressure!
Now can Lewis get to his century?
KATRavinath: "Charith's last over was the clutch for this chase, could be more nailbiting, if Kamindu held that catch."
Amogh: "Lewis needs 5 to complete his century. Rutherford needs 9 to complete his Fifty. West Indies needs 15 to win..can both batters complete their respective milestones? "
This looks like West Indies' game now, doesn't it? Can Asitha Fernando stop that from happening though?
Between Madushka, Nissanka, Mendis, Avishka and Perera, there is now serious competition for places in the top three
SL scored 156 in rain-reduced game, with WI's target revised to 195, and Sherfane Rutherford smashed 50* off 26 deliveries