Duckworth/Lewis comes in again as Sri Lanka make series whitewash
Opener Kusal Perera put in another sterling batting performance following his unfortunate knock of 99 in the previous match as he slammed his second successive half ton paving the way for Sri Lanka to record a 19-run win on Duckworth/Lewis method in the third ODI played at the Pallekele International Stadium yesterday. With the win Sri Lanka recorded a 3-0 series whitewash.
Sri Lanka in pursuit of a revised target of 190 runs in 36 overs, was on 180 for 5 when rain hampered proceedings. The home team was well on par the D/L run rate, which was 161 at that time, as they sealed the victory with ease.
Perera’s half ton was the seventh of his career as he and T.M. Dilshan gave Sri Lanka a sedate start of 40 runs in pursuit of 190 runs. Perera followed it with another fine partnership of 55 runs with Lahiru Thirimanne before becoming the third Sri Lanka wicket to fall after having reached his half ton.
Dinesh Chandimal and skipper Angelo Mathews further consolidated the Sri Lanka innings with the pair making steady progress taking the singles and two’s with the minimum of fuss. The pair was separated having added 31 runs with the dismissal of Chandimal who made 23. Milinda Siriwardana who followed, did not last long and was at the crease for a brief 13 balls in which he made 17 runs.
Siriwardana’s dismissal saw Sri Lanka needing a further 29 runs for victory from 46 balls. After skipper Mathews was joined by Shehan Jayasuriya, the two added 19 of the required runs before the third shower came down and forced the umpires to call off the match.
Earlier on Marlon Samuels had a barren run against Sri Lanka by making a comeback with an unbeaten 95-ball knock of 110, but he was forced to watch losing his partners at the other end. The rain interruption continued for the third successive time with two stoppages with the first when West Indies invited to take first lease of the wicket was in a spot of bother on 12 for 2 from 3.4 overs.
West Indies began their innings in an inauspicious start losing their openers Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher within the first couple of overs. Two overs later they were in dire straits losing two more wickets and slid to 18 for 4.
Samuels and Denesh Ramdin, who came back into the side, put in a recovery act adding 34 runs for the fifth wicket. This was followed by another useful partnership of 32 runs for the sixth wicket between Samuels and Jonathan Carter. The second stoppage came when West Indies was back-to-the-wall and struggling on 105 for 6 in the 24th over, when the game lost 135 minutes of play.
When West Indies resumed their innings, the match was reduced by 14 overs from the allotted 50 to 36 overs and it was from there on that they accelerated thanks to the belligerent Samuels who paid scant respect to the bowlers whilst piling up runs at will.
The Sri Lanka pacies, who had things under control in the early stages of the innings, lost their way at the latter part of the West Indies innings. Samuels along with Carlos Brathwaite stepped up the scoring as the pair ran amok to add a quick fire seventh-wicket partnership of 55 runs in just 29 balls before they were separated.
Samuels took 51 balls to hit his first 50 and needed only 35 more balls to reach his ton. His knock included 15 boundaries and a six. Samuels was associated in another fruitful partnership of 31 runs for the eighth wicket 31with Sunil Narine. Apart from Samuels, only two batsmen – skipper Jason Holder and Brathwaite were able to make double figures with scores of 19 and 18 respectively.
West Indies, in contrast to the score of 105 for 6 in 23.3 overs before the second stoppage, was able to pile up 101 runs in the remaining 12.3 overs and ended with a score of 206 for 9 leaving Sri Lanka a revised D/L target of 190 runs in 36 overs.
West Indies innings
Johnson Charles c Dilshan b Malinga 4
(Slower delivery, batsman plays
loosely to edge to point)
Andre Fletcher lbw b Lakmal 6
(Full length on leg, batsman walks across and misses)
Jermaine Blackwood c Dilshan b Malinga 2
(Short delivery outside off, tries to steer
to the third man region, caught at point)
Darren Bravo b Lakmal 4
(Full delivery, swings back in,
batsman leaves, ball thumps into off stump)
Marlon Samuels not out 110
Denesh Ramdin c Perera b Chameera 4
(Short delivery, lands on leg stump,
batsman fends, ball touches the glove)
Jonathan Carter c Perera b Mendis 6
(Lands outside off, paddle sweeps early,
ball lobs up to wicketkeeper)
Jason Holder c Perera b Chameera 19
(Gentle full length delivery, tries to steer
to the third man region, caught behind)
Carlos Brathwaite lbs b Mendis 18
(Lands on middle and leg, batsman misses the flick)
Sunil Narine c Chandimal b Mathews 9
(Full length delivery on middle,
hoists to deep square leg and caught)
Ravi Rampual not out 2
Extras (lb5, w17) 22
Total (9 wickets; 36 overs) 206
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Charles), 2-12 (Fletcher), 3-16 (Blackwood), 4-18 (Bravo), 5-52 (Ramdin), 6-84 (Carter), 7-109 (Holder), 8-164 (Brathwaite), 9-195 (Narine)
Bowling: Lasith Malinga 7-0-43-2, Suranga Lakmal 7-0-40-2 (3w), Dushmantha Chameera 7-0-39-2 (3w), Milinda Siriwardana 5-0-17-0, Ajantha Mendis 8-0-51-2 (3w), Angelo Mathews 2-0-11-1
Sri Lanka innings
Kusal Perera c Blackwood b Rampaul 50
(Full outside off, batsman heaves it,
caught at midwicket)
TM Dilshan c Carter b Brathwaite 21
(Full and wide, hits uppishly and caught)
Lahiru Thirimanne c Samuels b Holder 21
(Length delivery, drives and caught at short cover)
Dinesh Chandimal c Ramdin b Carter 23
(Slight movement away from the batsman,
batsman goes for it and finds a thin edge)
Angelo Mathews not out 27
Milinda Siriwardana c Ramdin b Holder 17
(Good length delivery, outswings and
edges to wicketkeeper)
Shehan Jayasuriya not out 11
Extras (lb3, w6, nb1) 10
Total (5 wickets; 32.3 overs) 180
Did not bat: Dushmantha Chameera, Ajantha Mendis, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal
Fall of wickets: 1-40 (Dilshan), 2-95 (Thirimanne), 3-103 (Perera), 4-134 (Chandimal), 5-161 (Siriwardana)
Bowling: Ravi Rampaul 5-0-34-1 (1nb, 2w), Sunil Narine 7.3-1-24-0, Jason Holder 7-0-44-2, Carlos Brathwaite 7-0-40-1 (3w), Jermaine Blackwood 3-0-16-0, Jonathan Carter 3-0-19-1 (1w)