Sri Lanka Vs West Indies 3rd ODI: 5 Talking Points of the Match

Sri Lanka Vs West Indies 3rd ODI: 5 Talking Points of the Match: Rain god once again played spoilsport once again as the 3^rd one-dayer between Sri Lanka and West Indies reduced to a mere 36-36 over match for both teams instead of 50 overs for each side at Pallekele. This was one of those rare occasions when the entire one-day series couldn’t feature even one 50-over match due to rain. Sri Lanka decided to field first after winning the toss in the noon putting West Indies to bat on.

Hosts have already won the 3-ODI series 2-0, but this match was very important for West Indies to salvage their pride and resisting Sri Lanka from clean sweeping the series 3-0. It was expected that West Indies would show their batting strength and put big scores on the board, but they could manage just 206 after 36-overs courtesy astute and perfect bowling by the Sri Lankans.

1.Marlon Samuels’s Blitzkrieg:

West Indies cricketer Marlon Samuels has once again showed his amazing class hitting a valiant 110* off 95 balls with 15 boundaries and 1 six at an impressive strike rate of around 116. He waged a lone battle for his side when the entire West Indian top order got out at cheap scores without double digit figures. In the last one-dayer too, Samuels hit fine 63 displaying his ability to handle pressure and play attacking even if wickets kept falling at the other side.

2.Malinga Struck in the 1^st Over:

Sri-Lankan bowling spearhead Lasith Malinga gave a big blow to West Indies by removing the dangerous Johnson Charles (4) off the very first over. In the last one-dayer Charles played a fine knock of 83 but he couldn’t even reach a double digit figure at this match. Then Malinga again created havoc by removing Blackwood for just 2 runs bringing visitor’s score to 16 for 3 after 4.5 overs.

3.The 55-run partnership for 8^th Wicket:

Samuels and Brathwaite added a valuable 55-run partnership for the 8^th wicket that eventually helped West Indies take their scorecard beyond 200-run mark. Brathwaite contributed valuable 18 off 13 balls with 3 boundaries as the number 8^th batsman with a strike rate of more than 138.

4.Kusal Perera Hit Fifty:

Sri-Lankan opener Kusal Perera smashed his 7^th ODI fifty today. The wicket-keeper batsman is in sublime form this series. He smashed a brilliant 99 in the second one-dayer that helped Sri-Lanka win the match. The dashing left-hander began the Sri-Lankan innings with Right handed T. Dilshan. But the partnership didn’t last long as Dilshan got out off Brathwaite on 21 at 40 for 1. Perera 50 (47b, 4s x 2, 6s x 2) got out at 103/3 when Sri-Lanka still needed 87 more runs to win with 7 wickets in hand. 

5.Sri-Lanka’s Victory under D/L method:

Rain didn’t allow the match to complete through the end as it once again started when Lankans were just 10 runs short of winning the series clean sweep with 3-0 after 32.3 overs. However, match officials resorted D/L rules in which Sri-Lanka won the match by 19 runs.