COLOMBO –– An incisive spell of off-spin bowling from talented all-rounder Hayley Matthews propelled West Indies Women to a 31-run victory over Sri Lanka and a 3-1 series win in the four-match One-Day International series at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, today.
The teenager took career-best figures of 3 for 7 as West Indies successfully defended their below-par score of 156, dismissing their hosts for 125 in the 46th over of their run-chase.
After having opted to bat, West Indies slumped to 156 all out, with only four of their batters crossing double figures. Allrounder Sripali Weerakoddy carved up the top order, reducing West Indies to 44 for 3, before left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera inflicted more damage, claiming figures of 3 for 17 in 10 overs, including four maidens.
Britney Cooper, coming in at No. 5, offered some source of resistance through her 46 off 65 balls, but lacked meaningful support from the other end. This meant that the West Indies were bowled out inside 48 overs.
For once both of the West Indies Women’s star batters failed with Stafanie Taylor, batting at number 3, being dismissed by medium-pacer Eshani Kaushalya for 8, caught at the wicket by Prasadani Weerakkody, and Deandra Dottin falling for 13, also caught at the wicket off medium-pacer Sripali Weerakkody for 13.
West Indies Women continued to lose wickets steadily to the disciplined bowling of the hosts with Cooper’s innings that included four boundaries and two sixes holding the innings together. The talented Trinidadian was eventually caught and bowled by Ranaweera in the 36th over.
Earlier Matthews had looked assured in cruising to 24 off 23 balls with three boundaries before she fell victim to the Weerakkody combination.
When Sri Lanka batted their resistance was even flimsier than the Windies’ and their innings folded in 45.2 overs. Chamari Atappattu fell early in the chase when she was bowled by Taylor for 2 by the fourth over. Weerakoddy couldn’t carry her bowling form into batting; she pottered around for 10 off 45 balls before Tremayne Smartt had her caught behind by captain Merissa Aguilleira.
Each of Yasoda Mendis (13), Nipuni Hansika (21), Shashikala Siriwardene (16) and Kaushalya (30) got starts but none managed a substantial contribution; Kaushalya’s 30 off 50 balls was the highest score. The last four Sri Lankan wickets fell for only 10 runs with Matthews running through the lower batting order. Smartt and Anisa Mohammad finished with combined figures of 20-2-51-4 to give Matthews excellent support.
