Feb. 22, 2020, 10:54 a.m.
West Indies suffered heartbreak in their opening match against Sri Lanka as they went down by one wicket in the final over of the nail-biting contest on Saturday. Wanindu Hasaranga played an heroic knock for Sri Lanka to lead them to a sensational victory with just five balls to spare in the first ODI at the SSC in Colombo.
Shai Hope made his ninth ODI century to pilot West Indies to a challenging target, and he also held four catches behind the stumps to cap a good match. However, the home side got a century opening stand from skipper Dimuth Karunaratne 52, Avishka Fernando 50 and then Hasaranga played a cameo to steal the show and earn the Man of the Match award.
MATCH SCORES: West Indies 289-7 off 50 overs (Shai Hope 115, Roston Chase 41, Darren Bravo 39, Keemo Paul 32 not out; Isuru Udana 3-82) Sri Lanka 290-9 off 49.1 overs (Dimuth Karunaratne 52, Avishka Fernando 50, Kusal Perera 42, Wanindu Hasaranga 42 not out, Thisara Perera 32; Alzarri Joseph 3-42, Hayden Walsh 2-38, Keemo Paul 2-48)
It was Hope’s first century against Sri Lanka as he laid the foundation. He successfully reviewed a leg-before-wicket call on the second ball of the innings and went on to hit 10 fours off 140 balls. He added 77 runs for the second wicket with Bravo, who hit three four and two sixes before he was unfortunately run out in a mix up. Hope found another good partner in Roston Chase as they added 85 runs for the third wicket.
Hope reached his hundred to loud cheers from a sporting Sri Lankan crowd but and after he was dismissed Keemo Paul hit 32 off 17 balls, and Hayden Walsh, who smashed 20 off eight, then put on an unbeaten 49-run stand.
WHAT’S NEXT: The two teams will now travel to Hambantota for the second ODI on Wednesday, February 26 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium. The match will be played under lights and first ball 2:30 pm (5am Eastern Caribbean Time/4am Jamaica Time)
-CWI
