Twitter Reactions: Centuries from Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis guide Sri Lanka to their third home series win since 2015

The Sri Lankan spinners made a merry at the Hambantota ground.

By Suryesh M

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Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis
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Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Playing at home, results haven’t been great for Sri Lanka in ODI cricket. They had to wait for four years from 2015 to register a victory at home. When Bangladesh toured the country in 2019, they ended the wait by clean sweeping the opposition in the three-match series. Carrying this momentum forward, they registered another win by defeating West Indies in the first two games of the three-match series making it only their third win at home in a little over four years. Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis were the stars for the home team in this match.

After they were put in to bat first, Sheldon Cotrell stunned the Islanders right at the start of the innings. In consecutive deliveries, he dismissed both Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera bringing the side down to 9/2. That was when the duo of Fernando and Mendis reconsolidated, attacked and took the game away. Both these batsmen registered highly impressive centuries scoring 127 and 119 runs respectively. The likes of Thisara Perera (36), Wanindu Hasaranga (17) and Isuru Udana (17) provided the team with the final impetus as they got to 345/8 in 50 overs.

Middle muddle for West Indies – a sign of concern?

For some time now, the West Indies have persisted with their middle order. However, they haven’t been getting the expected results from these batsmen. Shai Hope carried on with his fine form and scored a well-compiled 50 at the top of the order. But the other batsmen couldn’t compliment him despite most of them getting to good starts. Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran and Roston Chase failed to apply themselves well enough. Pooran’s dismissal was the most disappointing as he tried to fetch a ball from way outside the off-stump and sweep it.

Meanwhile, Kieron Pollard bagged a golden duck and Jason Holder just scored 3 runs. It seemed as if West Indies would be bowled out for a much lower total but Keemo Paul and Fabian Allen turned up with scores of 21 and 17 respectively. The side was ultimately bowled out for 184 runs. Wanindu Hasaranga and Lakshan Sandakan picked up three wickets each. Twitterati was all praise for Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis and the spinners for their efforts.

Here is how Twitterati reacted after the encounter:

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West IndiesSri Lanka