Sri Lanka 244 for 2 (Nissanka 104, Karunaratne 83) beat West Indies 243 all out (Carty 87, Theekshana 4-34) by eight wickets
This had not seemed the case when Johnson Charles was flying high during a brisk 36-run opening stand with Brandon King. With Dasun Shanaka opening the bowling alongside Dilshan Madushanka, Charles and King had found the Lankan captain’s gentle pace to their liking. But the early introduction of eventual Player of the Match Theekshana turned the game.
King was the first to go, his middle stump disturbed after he went too far across attempting to sweep. Shamarh Brooks then got a faint nick through to the keeper that was confirmed on review, while Shai Hope was trapped in front by one that skidded through off a good length to catch him sitting in his crease.
Charles was still going strong at this point, but then the sometimes wayward Matheesha Pathirana grabbed his only scalp, trapping him lbw with one that was quick, straight and kept a touch low from back of a length. Theekshana returned later to leave the West Indies reeling on 155 for 8 when he knocked back Romario Shepherd’s middle stump.
At that point, it seemed like West Indies would struggle to reach 40 overs, let alone the full 50, but Carty – aided by the fact he was dropped on 8 – strung together a series of lower-order stands to haul his side into the game, on a pitch that had few demons in it.
He first came to the crease at 62 for 4 with Nicholas Pooran already there, but the latter became legspinner Dushan Hemantha’s maiden ODI scalp, holing out at deep midwicket. Hemantha was playing for the rested Wanindu Hasaranga.
Carty then put on 41 with Kyle Mayers, before the latter was castled by Sahan Arachchige – yet another debutant, in for Dhananjaya de Silva. Roston Chase shortly after became Hemantha’s second scalp of the game, caught lbw by a ripping googly, before Carty stitched together another defiant stand – this time 32 with Shepherd.
Once Shepherd fell, the writing appeared to be on the wall, but Carty guided Kevin Sinclair and Akeal Hossein through stands of 63 and 25 respectively – the former the best of the innings – to lift the total to respectability.
The application shown by Carty throughout would serve as an example from an otherwise dire West Indian effort. This was no more apparent than in the field when several chances of varying difficulty were dropped – a recurring theme throughout this tournament – the most glaring of which was by captain Hope himself, who let through a skier, despite having the gloves on.
In a game that many might have assumed would have had far more significance when it was pencilled in at the start of the tournament, in the end only served to show the differing trajectories, not just of these two sides, but of West Indies and the Associates as well. When Sri Lanka turn up on Sunday to face the Dutch, they are likely to be in for a far sterner test.
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