Sri Lanka vs West Indies, 1st ODI at Colombo, , Nov 01 2015 - Ball by Ball Commentary

RESULT
1st ODI (D/N), Colombo (RPS), November 01, 2015, West Indies tour of Sri Lanka
(26/26 ov) 159/8
(24.5/26 ov, T:163) 164/9

Sri Lanka won by 1 wicket (with 7 balls remaining) (D/L method)

Player Of The Match
59 (32)
tillakaratne-dilshan
New
SL
Full commentary

12.10pm: That's that for the presentation, and that's that for us. It's been a long day, but an exhilarating day in the end. We hope you enjoyed our coverage. We certainly enjoyed bringing it to you. Until next time, goodbye, and good night!

Angelo Mathews: "It was a lucky escape. We made a real mess out of the game. We were cruising, and I started the collapse by playing that shot. But lesson learned. All the bowlers bowled their socks off. Suranga bowled magnificently. So did Mendo and Sachithra, but we were cruising. The bowlers have been batting a lot in the nets. In pressure situations, coming up against the best bowlers in the world, Mendo's innings was magnificent today. Danushka batted very well, unfortunately Shehan couldn't pull it through, but they are very talented players."

Jason Holder: "Not too disappointed. Tough loss, coming so close in the end. Russell going off was a big loss for us. They got off to a really good start, we didn't bowl particularly well, but credit to the way we fought back. Credit to Andre Russell, gave the impetus [after the rain break] and myself and Brathwaite carried on from that."

Tillakaratne Dilshan is the Player of the Match: "It was a tricky total, we had to take a chance, and myself and Kushal set the tone in the first five overs. We both gave the momentum. They bowled a little short, I took the maximum out of that. But if they bowled full also I played the Dilscoop, so maybe they were in two minds. It was a very good pitch. After it rained, it was easier to bat."

Anon06: "This is where Jason Mohammed has to come in for the next match. A handy offspinner (better than Samuels judging by stats) and he can not possibly bat any worse than Samuels. Plus, he has earned his chance with a strong domestic season behind him."

Uwaisul Karnain: "Excellent innings under pressure from Mendis after becoming the 3rd fastest bowler to reach 150 ODI scalps earlier in the day deserves the MOM award!"

Rohan: "Fighing win by Lanka, such tenacity! But I have never seen the Windies play with no real 5-6 bowling options, guess the absence of Bravo / Pollard hurts in more ways than one." -- And they didn't use Samuels, even though he's still eligible to bowl. Hasn't had his action tested yet.

Shakeena Samadh: "I will probably fell sleep tomorrow in the school but this match is worth it :)"

11.50pm Mendis didn't even know Sri Lanka had won it. He was walking back to his crease, thinking they needed a couple more runs, before Lakmal ran to him and embraced him. A crazy finish to a crazy match. What a strange chase. Dilshan made his fastest ODI fifty. Sri Lanka were cruising. Then a couple of needless shots, and then three wickets in one over for Sunil Narine. It came down to the last pair, and to the dramatically improved batting of Ajantha Mendis. He just managed to sneak Sri Lanka over the line, but West Indies, remember, were hampered by the fact that Andre Russell was injured and only managed five balls from his five-over quota. Jonathan Carter proved an able back-up, but Johnson Charles (thanks, Rajat Raj, for informing me that his Cricinfo profile page has no bowling style description) overstepped at the worst possible moment to let the match slip out of West Indies' grip.

24.5
6
Charles to Mendis, SIX runs

bang, and Sri Lanka win it. It's full, it's in the slot on middle stump. Mendis clears his front leg and absolutely smashes that, launches it way over wide long-on

Free-hit coming up.

24.5
3nb
Charles to Mendis, (no ball) 2 runs

no-ball, full on middle stump. Swings it away, in the air. Deep midwicket dives forward, drops it. Wasn't a catch anyway. They run two. Extra ball. Three runs shaved off the target. It's all happening. Huge no-ball, that. And now a free-hit too

24.4
Charles to Mendis, no run

back of a length, not short enough, and no swinging room as he goes on the back foot to pull. Can only drag it feebly to midwicket

24.3
1
Charles to Lakmal, 1 run

on the pads, flicked into the square leg region

24.2
Charles to Lakmal, no run

full on off stump, jabbed back to the bowler

24.1
1
Charles to Mendis, 1 run

length ball on the pads, tucked away to short fine leg. They take the single

24.1
1w
Charles to Mendis, 1 wide

starts his over with a huge wide down the leg side. Mendis had walked across his stumps premeditatedly, looking for the scoop over fine leg

11 to win from 12. One wicket in hand. Mendis on strike. Who will bowl? Johnson Charles will bowl. What does he bowl? Looks like medium-pace.

end of over 245 runs • 2 wickets
SL: 152/9CRR: 6.33 RRR: 5.50
Suranga Lakmal0 (2b)
Ajantha Mendis12 (16b 1x4)
Jonathan Carter 2.1-0-14-2
Jason Holder 5-1-29-0
23.6
Carter to Lakmal, no run

length ball close to off stump, gets forward to block it safely back towards the bowler

23.5
Carter to Lakmal, no run

length ball wide of off stump, left gratefully alone

Jonathan Carter is on a hat-trick. Suranga Lakmal is Sri Lanka's No. 11.

23.4
W
Carter to Malinga, OUT

another excellent full ball, and again there's no footwork. Nips back, hits the pad, and the umpire immediately upholds the lbw appeal. Malinga reviews. Is there an inside-edge on this? Nope. Straight onto back pad, and I think that's crashing into the stumps. Let's check with ball tracking anyway... I think that'll hit some part of leg stump. Yup. A big part of leg stump. Sri Lanka are nine down.

Lasith Malinga lbw b Carter 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0

11 to win from 15 balls. Malinga walks in.

23.3
W
Carter to Senanayake, OUT

bowled him! Length ball, nipped back from outside off, and it went through the gate and crashed into middle stump. Was looking to play through mid-off, maybe, but played too far in front of his body

Sachithra Senanayake b Carter 7 (13b 1x4 0x6) SR: 53.84
23.2
Carter to Senanayake, no run

length ball outside off, a bit of extra bounce. Mid-off went back and third man came into the circle before this ball, and he looked to dab it down to third man with an open face. Ball missed his edge. A bit of away movement too

23.1
4
Carter to Senanayake, FOUR runs

shot! That's full, up there in Senanayake's slot without being full enough to deny him hitting room. Hits through the line with a straight bat, and hits it back over the bowler's head

23.1
1w
Carter to Senanayake, 1 wide

bouncer, and that's marginally down the leg side as Senanayake ducks to avoid it. Wide signalled. Maybe for height. Certainly for height.

Carter to continue. Wonder who'll bowl from the other end.

Maiden has narrowed it to 16 off 18, but Holder desperately wanted a wicket in that over.

end of over 23Maiden
SL: 147/7CRR: 6.39 RRR: 5.33
Ajantha Mendis12 (16b 1x4)
Sachithra Senanayake3 (10b)
Jason Holder 5-1-29-0
Jonathan Carter 1.1-0-9-0
22.6
Holder to Mendis, no run

back of a length, angling into off and middle. Makes room to play that with a straight bat into the off side, ends up playing down the wrong line, inside the line

22.5
Holder to Mendis, no run

full on middle stump, clipped to midwicket

22.4
Holder to Mendis, no run

another good short ball, dug in and angling into the body. Defended safely into the off side

22.3
Holder to Mendis, no run

good bouncer, angles into the batsman and cutting off any room. Defends that very well, does Mendis, keeps it down into the leg side

22.2
Holder to Mendis, no run

low full-toss on off stump, clipped to mid-on

22.1
Holder to Mendis, no run

low full-toss outside off, defended safely towards cover point

Holder to bowl his last over. There will be three more after this.

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