Lewis’ maiden ODI hundred was not enough to get the West Indies over the finish line
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Evin Lewis looked to be leading the West Indies to victory in a high-scoring thriller against Sri Lanka, but his career-best knock of 148 went in vain as Sri Lanka clinched a heart-racing one-run win.
Opting to bowl first, the West Indies got an early breakthrough as Shannon Gabriel clean bowled Sri Lanka opener Kusal Perera for seven runs.
Despite this, Sri Lanka turned the tide in their favour through Dhananjaya de Silva and wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella’s 105-run partnership, during which both batsmen brought up their half-centuries.
Kraigg Brathwaite ended the partnership when he dismissed De Silva caught and bowled for 58 off 60 balls, which included seven boundaries.
De Silva scored his third ODI fifty
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Even though they took out De Silva, the West Indies were subject to more punishment as Dickwella and Kusal Mendis put together a 107-run stand, during which Mendis surpassed his fifty, before Dickwella was trapped lbw off the bowling of West Indies captain Jason Holder for 94 off 106 balls, which included seven boundaries and a six.
Dickwella made his highest ODI score
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Following Dickwella’s dismissal, Sri Lanka began to lose wickets at regular intervals, which included Mendis, who ended up making 94 off 73 deliveries, which included seven boundaries and five sixes.
Mendis was named Man of the Match for his career-best knock of 94
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
With Sri Lanka faltering towards the end of their innings, stand-in captain Upul Tharanga and Sachith Pathirana came to the rescue with a 49-run partnership before Tharanga fell to Holder on the last ball of the final over. Thanks to Tharanga and Pathirana’s late heroics, Sri Lanka made 330/7 off their 50 overs.
Holder was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Gabriel, Kraigg Brathwaite, Carlos Brathwaite and Ashley Nurse chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Chasing 331 to win, the West Indies got off to a strong start as openers Lewis and Johnson Charles accumulated a 63-run partnership before Charles was caught by Tharanga off the bowling of Suranga Lakmal for 26.
Lewis and Kraigg Brathwaite kept the runs flowing with a 70-run stand, the majority of which was dominated by the former as he raced past his fifty. Brathwaite, meanwhile, only contributed 16 runs before he was cleaned up by Asela Gunaratne.
After Brathwaite was back in the pavilion, the men from the Caribbean began to stumble as a quick flurry of wickets left them in a spot of bother.
Nonetheless, Lewis continued to fight as he lost partner after partner at the other end, but ultimately he also joined his dismissed team-mates in the dressing room as he was run out for 148 off 122 balls, which included 15 boundaries and four sixes.
After Lewis was out, Carlos Brathwaite and Nurse fell shortly after, but thanks to Holder holding down the fort, the West Indies found themselves needing 10 runs to win off the final over.
The West Indies scored seven runs off the first four balls before Sulieman Benn was sent packing by Nuwan Pradeep on the penultimate ball of the match.
With three runs separating them from victory, Holder could only score one run off the final ball, which handed Sri Lanka a tense win. Holder finished unbeaten on 45 off 46 deliveries, which included one boundary and a six.
Lakmal and Nuwan Kulasekara took two wickets apiece, while Gunaratne and Pradeep claimed one wicket each.
Holder was gutted to have fallen agonisingly short of victory, and said: “It was a good effort, well played Lewis. He batted deep in the innings, the run-out between me and Lewis was unfortunate. Going forward we must be a lot more precise in our calling to avoid run-outs. This is not over, and we have one more game against Zimbabwe.”
Tharanga was relieved to have come out on top, and said: “Luckily, the game ended in our side. The batsmen batted really well, and the bowlers did a decent job. The only disappointment was our catching. Close game, bowling too many wides brought it close.”
Mendis was named Man of the Match, and said: “I enjoyed the innings. Very good, close game. Myself, Dhanajaya, and Dickwella all did well.”