Shai Hope made his 4th consecutive 50+ score against Sri Lanka in One Day Internationals to take West Indies to a comfortable 8-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the 1st ODI. Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka’s innings had been derailed by Danushka Gunathilaka’s controversial dismissal.
Sri Lanka got off to a great start with the bat, as Dimuth Karunaratne and Gunathilaka put on 100 inside 19 overs to kick things off. The partnership was ended by Kieron Pollard, who played a pivotal role in stalling Sri Lanka. Pollard got one to stop on Karunaratne and took a sharp catch off his own bowling to send his opposition skipper back to the pavilion for 52. Perhaps his most influential moment came a little later however, as his appeal against Gunathilaka for ‘obstructing the field’ was upheld by the 3rd umpire.
Gunathilaka dropped a delivery from Pollard at his feet and made to take off for a run before sending Pathum Nissanka back at the non-striker’s end. In the process, he seemed to lose sight of the ball, which was under his feet and while getting back into his crease seemed to accidently kick the ball away from Pollard who was rushing in to gather it. Pollard, annoyed at him for getting in his way, appealed immediately and the third umpire deemed that Gunathilaka had in fact intentionally obstructed Pollard from getting to the ball, ruling him out.
With Gunathilaka’s dismissal, Sri Lanka seemed to lose all confidence in terms of running between the wickets. A number of stops and starts featuring Nissanka eventually saw Angelo Mathews caught short of his crease coming back for a 2nd run, before a misunderstanding between Dinesh Chandimal and Nissanka saw the debutant stranded in the middle of the pitch. From 105/1 in the 20th over, Sri Lanka slumped to 126/4 within 5 overs, putting the onus on youngsters Kamindu Mendis and Ashen Bandara to push the visitors to a competitive total.
They never really recovered from there and although Bandara became just the 5th Sri Lankan to score a 50 on debut, wickets kept falling at the other end as Sri Lanka finished with a below-par 232.
West Indies’ openers Shai Hope and Evin Lewis mirrored the start Sri Lanka had gotten, albeit at a slower pace. Hope continued his fantastic run against Sri Lanka, going to his 4th consecutive 50+ score against the Lions, while Lewis played with uncharacteristic calm.
Both were dismissed by Dushmantha Chameera, who was the only penetrative bowler in the Lankan line-up, but West Indies cruised to a comfortable win in the end.
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