Sri Lanka vs West Indies Match Preview, 2nd ODI

Sri Lanka Cricket. (Source – Getty Images)

The pristine island country Sri Lanka (SL) and West Indies (WI) will lock horns in the second ODI of the series, on Wednesday, October 23, at the renowned venue of Pallekele. The tourists will look to keep themselves afloat in the three-match series after going down rather tamely in the first encounter on Sunday.

In the rain-curtailed first ODI in Pallekele, the West Indies won the toss and opted to bat first. Brandon King and Alick Athanaze batted with caution before being dismissed in the eighth and 10th over, respectively. Wanindu Hasranga got the better of both the batters. Skipper Shai Hope also departed in quick succession and the West Indies were in a precarious situation at 54/3 at the end of the 13th over.

Sherfane Rutherford and Keacy Carty combined to resurrect the innings and they added a 46-run partnership off 75 balls. However, the latter threw his wicket away in the 26th over after getting set. At 100/4, Roston Chase joined Rutherford in the middle and the left-hand-right-hand combination worked wonders for the visitors as an excellent partnership of 85 off 78 balls was registered. The southpaw reached his highest ODI score of 74*, while Chase was batting on a run-a-ball 33 when rain stopped play.

When the rain finally stopped, there wasn’t enough time for the West Indies to complete their innings which was paused at 185/4 in 38.3 overs. Sri Lanka were given a DLS revised target of 232 in 37 overs.

Avishka Fernando was dismissed in the second over as Alzarri Joseph gave the Caribbean side a great start. Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama hit three boundaries apiece before losing their wickets. The hosts were in a spot of bother at 45/3 but Nishan Madushka, who got an opportunity in place of the injured Pathum Nissanka, and Charith Asalanka weathered the storm before stitching a match-winning partnership of 137 off 109 balls.

Madushka scored a fine 69 off 54 balls before getting out in the 25th over. Asalanka also departed for a 71-ball 77 in the 27th over as Sri Lanka needed another 45 runs to win off 65 balls. Kamindu Mendis and Janith Liyanage took their team home with five wickets and 31 balls to spare.

Match Details

Pitch Report

The average first innings score batting first in Pallekele in 249. Teams batting first have won 16 matches while chasing teams have emerged victorious on 22 occasions. The pitch looked quite good for batting in the first ODI. The rain helped the ball come onto the bat a lot better in the second innings. There is a decent chance of rain affecting the first half of play on Wednesday and the captain who wins the toss would look to chase to stay in an advantageous position if the DLS method comes into play.