Sri Lanka 231 (50 overs) v West Indies 232/7 (49.3 overs)
Opting to bat first in Kimberley, Sri Lanka were dealt an early blow when Nathan Edward, Player of the Match in the previous game, had opener Vishen Halambage dismissed for a golden duck in the opening over.
No.3 Sineth Jayawardena too fell soon after to Edward as the left-arm quick continued from where he left off against England in their final group match. Pulindu Perera and Supun Waduge started the rebuild, but couldn’t get far as Raneico Smith came into the attack and trapped Perera in front in his first over.
Dinura Kalupahana held his end up with some solid defensive strokes as Waduge tried to up the run-rate. The partnership, though, was broken just as it was gaining momentum when a deflection off Nathan Sealy’s fingertips hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end with Waduge short of the crease.
The unfortunate dismissal saw Sri Lanka slip to 85 for four with their key batter back in the hut. Kalupahana took on the responsibility of marshalling the innings, but he struggled to find partners as West Indies kept striking regularly.
Malsha Tharupathi stuck around at No.8 and the duo stitched together a half-century stand before Kalupahana, who made 53, cut Sealy straight to the fielder.
Tharupathi added useful lower-order runs with the tail before Smith cleaned him up. Sri Lanka finished on 231 in 50 overs, a total that appeared unlikely at the half-way mark. Smith was the pick of West Indian bowlers with figures of four for 47.
West Indies got off to a flier in the chase with skipper Stephan Pascal leading the charge. The opener raced to 33 with five fours and a six, after which Kalupahana had him caught at point.
Steve Wedderburn carried on positively, but West Indies lost Joshua Dorne to Vishwa Lahiru just after the Powerplay.
Jordan Johnson and Wedderburn, however, continued doing what West Indies have done well this tournament: transferring the pressure onto their opponents with quick runs. The 86-run partnership between the duo came at nearly run-a-ball as West Indies put themselves well ahead in the chase.
Sri Lanka struck back in the middle overs, first sending back Wedderburn and then Johnson next over to break the stand that was threatening to finish the game quickly. Vihas Thewmika’s off-spin accounted for Johnson, who made 39, but Mavendra Dindyal and Edward shaved off a few more runs from the target as West Indies edged closer.
Two quick wickets, that of Dindyal and Edward, gave Sri Lanka a bit of hope. It increased further when the dangerous Jewel Andrew was trapped in front by Kalupahana with the Windies still 26 runs from the target.
However, Sealy came to their rescue, yet again staying calm under pressure to get West Indies close. Despite a few nervy moments, Sealy remained unbeaten on 27 to steer his side home with three balls to spare.
West Indies skipper Stephan Pascal reflected on familiar conditions in his post-match reaction.
“The pitch wasn’t too different to what we have in the Caribbean Islands. I thought it was easy for the guys to adapt and play freely. To be honest, I was looking to bowl them out for around 150, but that partnership between Kalupahana and Tharupathi propelled them to that score. Even then we were very confident of chasing it down. We need to work on closing out games in an easier way, but we don’t want to curb our natural flair.”
-ICC
