Sri Lanka braved the frequent rain and a spiteful first day pitch to overcome West Indies by 40 runs according to the Duckworth and Lewis method, in a two day long match at the Queens Park Oval Ground.
A One Day International lasting two days sounds contradictory, but that is precisely what happened in Port of Spain, as frequent showers and the availability of a reserve day stretched a 41 over per side game over two whole days when Sri Lanka took on West Indies, in the penultimate group stage game of the triseries.
A win in this match guaranteed the West Indies a spot in the final, while a Sri Lankan victory would have left all 3 team interested in the outcome of the final group game.
The West Indies side looked quite different from their last game, having made 3 changes to their lineup, 2 of them forced: Captain Dwayne Bravo was sitting a one match suspension due to poor over rate in the previous game, while strike bowler Sunil Narine also missed out due to injury. Keeper Denesh Ramdin was also dropped, with Devon Smith, Jason Holder and Lendl Simmons earning call ups. Sri Lanka also made 2 changes, bringing in Jeevan Mendis and Shaminda Eranga in place of Kusal Perera and Rangana Herath. Kieron Pollard took over the captaincy duties for West Indies, and asked his counterpart to take first lease of the wicket after winning the toss.
The pitch was greener, harder and drier than the ones played on before, and with the West Indies going in with a battery of tall fast bowlers, the Sri Lankans faced a rather daunting task. With Ramdin dropped, Johnson Charles took over the keeping duties, but he had an inauspicious start, dropping a straightforward chance off Tharanga in the third over. Johnson went on to cost the West Indies over 20 extra runs through misfields, raising questions about the selctors decision to leave out the regular keeper. This particular drop wasn’t too costly though, as Tharanga fell in the next over, with Darren Bravo taking a spectacular catch in the covers to dismiss him. Sri Lanka were set back even further when Jayawardene was dismissed the very next delivery, a top edge looping up off his helmet for a simple catch. Kemar Roach then bowled a beautiful delivery to castle Dinesh Chandimal and Sri Lanka found themselves with their backs against the wall at 29 for 3.
Sangakkara and Thirimanne crawled along at a slow rate, attempting to negotiate the tough conditions and rebuild the innings. They had Sri Lanka at 60 for 3 after 19 overs before rain hit the Queens Park Oval Ground, forcing the players to go off. The rain didn’t let off, forcing play to be called off for the day.
The availability of a reserve day meant that the match could be continued on the following day from where it had left off. Further showers in the morning of the reserve day resulted in a delayed start, curtailing both innings to 45 overs each. Having gone so slowly the previous day, the Lankans were in need of a brisk start in order to post a competitive total. The pitch had also eased up considerably compared to the previous day, leaving Sri Lanka at an even further disadvantage. Sangakkara and Thirimanne were able to extend their partnership to 64 before Thirimanne was bowled by Marlon Samuels. The game was once again interrupted by rain at the 32 over mark forcing the players to go off for another half an hour. The overs per side were further reduced to 41 due to this delay, leaving the Sri Lankans desperately needing to up their scoring rate. With only 9 overs left, the Sri Lankans came out all guns blazing. Mathews struck a quick fire 30 on either side of the rain interruption, and Kulasekera hit a cameo 14 off 9 but the star of the innings was Kumar Sangakkara. Starting off cautiously, and having to play a stop-start innings due to the rain interruptions, he was able to guide Sri Lanka to the final overs before switching gears effortlessly and accelerating in the final phase of the innings, as he hit a brilliant unbeaten 90 off 95 deliveries getting Sri Lanka to 219-8 at the end of 41 overs. The Lankans were also helped, in part, by some wayward bowling by the West Indian quicks, who struggled to adapt to the change in conditions on the second day.
Duckworth and Lewis calculations set the West Indies a target of 231 in 41 overs, as Sri Lanka had not known that their innings would be curtailed when they first started. Sri Lanka’s defensive efforts suffered an early setback when Kulasekera injured the index finger of his left hand while attempting a catch. This forced Mathews to come on and bowl as early as the fifth over, and he immediately struck, getting rid of the potentially dangerous Chris Gayle. West Indies were set back further when their other opener Johnson Charles was dismissed n the very next over, courtesy of a brilliant catch by Shaminda Eranga off his own bowling. He then proceeded to dismiss Marlon Samuels in the same over –Mahela Jayewardene taking a great catch at slip- leaving the West Indians struggling at 29 for 3, coincidentally the exact position Sri Lanka found themselves in, the previous day. They had no one to play the role of Sangakkara however, as their number 3 batsmen Devon Smith fell lbw to Mathews after facing 13 balls without scoring a run.
The threat of further rain prompted Mathews to switch to his slower bowlers, in order to get to the 20 over mark quickly, as that was the minimum number of overs required for a result to be possible. Senanayake and Thirimanne rushed through their overs and at the 20 over mark West Indies found themselves at 60 for 4, well behind the D/L par score.
With an asking rate above eight an over and rising, one would have expected the West Indians to cut loose, but Darren Bravo and Lendl Simmons refused to take any undue risks, clearly trying to get as close as possible and hope that Pollard and Sammy would get them over in the final overs. They put on a magnificent partnership, accelerating as the end approached getting their team closer and closer to the target each over. With Kulasekara injured the signs were worrying for the Lankans, especially with two big hitters slated to come in next.
At the end of the 31st over West Indies were 144 for 4 with 86 runs needed off 60 balls. With rain approaching the grounds fast, it was vital that they reached the D/L par score at the end of the 32nd over, which was 160. Eranga gave away two boundaries and the West Indies needed a six off the last ball to reach the par score. With a drizzle beginning to fall over the ground, Lendl Simmons went for the six, but only managed to lose his wicket, being caught at cover by Thirimanne, leaving them 154 for 5
With 5 wickets down, the par score at the end of the 33rd was 170. Kieron Pollard was the man on strike, but he was unable to cope with a magnificent delivery from Malinga that caught the shoulder of his bat on the way through to Sangakkara, dismissed for a duck.
The expected rain never came, and those two wickets pushed the immediate D/L par score out of reach, and stalled the momentum of the West Indian team. The West Indies last hope was the Batting Power play, but the Sri Lankan death bowling was far superior to that of their counterparts, and once Sammy was dismissed, the game was all but done; West Indies finishing on 190 for 9, losing by 40 runs according to the D/L system.
Kumar Sangakkara was named Man of the Match.
Sri Lanka received some bad news when it was announced that Nuwan Kulasekera was ruled out of the tournament due to his injury. They will have to soldier on though, as they face India for the final group game on Tuesday, with all 3 teams still in with a chance of qualifying. However, unless they lose by a massive margin to India, Sri Lanka stand a good chance of making the final.
Sri Lanka 219 for 8 (Sangakkara 90*, Roach 4-27) beat West Indies 190 for 9 (Darren Bravo 70, Simmons 67, Mathews 4-29) by 39 runs (D/L method)
