Sri Lanka ‘A’ defeated West Indies ‘A’ by 2 wickets in the first unofficial ODI match on Wednesday night at Sabina Park in Jamaica.
The hosts’ won the toss and elected to bat first in the series opening match which was played as a day/night fixture. After a solid opening stand of 67 between Montcin Hodge and John Campbell, left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara struck for the visitors in the 19th over.
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Pushpakumara received plenty of support from his fellow left-arm spin twin, Amila Aponso as they ran through the Windies middle order. Fast-bowler Lahiru Kumara bowled hostilely to remove the tail quickly as Sri Lanka ‘A’ restricted the home team to 176 in the penultimate over of their innings.
Hodge was the top run-scorer with a fine 54 off 69 balls with 4 fours and a six while Rakheem Cornwall chipped in with a fine 37. Aponso and Kumara grabbed 3 wickets apiece while Chamika Karunarathne, right-arm seamer and Pushpakumara took 2 scalps each.
Chasing 177 runs to win, opening batsman Sandun Weerakkody and one drop batsman Roshen Silva fell cheaply. Skipper Dhananjaya De Silva made only 12 while left-handed Nipun Karunanayake struck 24 as the visitors were struggling at 83 for 5 at one stage.
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Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, the visiting vice-captain Charith Asalanka battled hard for his 33. All-rounder Shehan Jayasuriya remained unbeaten on 31 along with the tail as the visitors reached the target with 2 wickets and 2 overs to spare.
West Indies ‘A’ – 176 all out in 48.4 overs: Montcin Hodge 54, Rakheem Cornwall 37, Lahiru Kumara 3/26, Amila Aponso 3/34, Malinda Pushpakumara 2/35, Chamika Karunaratne 2/36.
Sri Lanka ‘A’ – 181/8 in 48 overs: Nipun Karunanayake 24, Charith Asalanka 33, Shehan Jayasuriya 31*, Sheldon Cottrell 3/35, Rakheem Cornwall 2/40.
With this win, Sri Lanka ‘A’ take the lead, 1-0 in the three-match series. They won the three-match unofficial Test series, 2-1. The second game will be played tomorrow, 3rd November.
