picks out long-on. It's all over. Sri Lanka win by 162 runs and seal the series 2-0. This was tossed up on the stumps, Allen made room and connected well with the lofted on-drive, but there was a fielder right there and he hit it straight to him. He didn't have much option, other than trying to hit out.
10.12 pm: That brings us to the end of this match. There is still one ODI to go and then the T20Is on this tour. Make sure you check out Andrew Fidel Fernando's report of this game. Till then, on behalf of Fidel and Chandan, this is Saurabh saying goodnight and goodbye.
Dimuth Karunaratne: "I'd like to thank my teammates. They played their hearts out. The way Kusal and Avishka batted - the intensity is what I'm expecting from the boys. Be confident and play their natural game. [Wristspinners] are the wicket-taking bowlers. Last few years we didn't have that in one-day matches, so hopefully they'll continue in the next matches as well. The fast bowlers were also good, kept good areas. Thisara is bowling well, batting well. When I give him the ball he bowls well and when he gets a chance to bat, he does well. Mickey Arthur is a nice guy, and he's trying to groom us. With all the youngsters in the side it's not easy but he was supporting us and giving us confidence. He's doing a good job. Thanks to all spectators also, I'm expecting this crowd in Pallekele as well."
Kieron Pollard: "It was the start we were looking forward to, getting two wickets early. But I put the catch of Kusal Mendis down, otherwise they would have been three down. We didn't stick to our plans long enough. I don't think we were up to the international standard today. Well bowled to them and well played to them. We weren't there in all three departments today. We can pinpoint a lot of things but I don't want to go into a lot of details. We'll do that as a team. I cop this one on the chin and we move on to Kandy."
Avishka Fernando is the Man of the Match.
10.04 pm: Presentations coming up soon.
Angelo Mathews: "Brilliant win. We had a poor start but the way Avishka and Kusal Mendis batted was outstanding. And then the bowlers did their job. [on his fielding] (laughs) well I'm trying to contribute whichever way I can. A very big thank you to the crowd, they've been right behind us. [on his resuming bowling] Feeling good. I've been building it up the last couple of weeks."
9.53 pm: Takes Sri Lanka just four balls to wrap things up after the floodlight failure. They'll be mighty pleased with this series win. Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis both hit their respective 2nd ODI centuries in a massive 239-run stand. The new-ball bowlers were disciplined and the wristspinners ran rings around the West Indies batsmen.
Celebrations in the Sri Lankan camp and lots of smiles. There's some introspection to do for West Indies. The first match was evenly fought but they've been blown away here. The bowling needs an urgent lift. Batting collapses while chasing big totals can happen, so that's there. But overall, this match has been one-way traffic apart from the initial few overs when Sri Lanka lost two quick wickets.
DinBandhu : "Quite literally..lights out for Windies...they need to sort the team combination...first four lack firepower completely and then the power hitters over-compensate..think windies need Hetmeyer and Pooran at the top"
off stump goes for a walk. Took just three balls post resumption to get another one. Yorker on off, too good for a tailender. The stumps were out of the ground before his bat had come down properly almost
bouncer, goes over his left shoulder. He goes for the pull but misses.
yorker on middle and off, tailing in late first up. Driven off the toe-end back to the bowler
9.48 pm: All set to restart.
9.45 pm: And Fidel was right, because the lights are coming back on.
9.42 pm: Fidel says reassuringly that "flooodlight failures have happened in Hambantota before and it's probably just a generator issue." So hopefully it'll get fixed soon.
9.35 pm: We're having a bit of a technical problem at the venue with some of the lights. While they get that sorted, it's me, Saurabh, back for the final stretch. We'll have to wait a bit though. One light tower seems to have gone out. Possibly two have.
Pradeep outsmarts him. These batsmen were clearly chancing their arm, and he bowls a beautiful back of the hand slower ball, which floats up to almost yorker length. Paul is playing a mighty heave over the legside, but is through the shot early, and the ball goes clattering into the stumps.
short again, and wide of off stump, but Paul fetches that and bashes it over midwicket for four
shortish ball on off stump. Paul tries to defend and gets a thick inside edge onto thigh pad
Allen's going to have some fun! This is tossed up, overpitched really, and Allen makes room, clears the front leg, and wallops this high over wide long off for the first six of the match!
floated up, defended into the offside
flatter, faster, turning in from middle stump. Paul goes back and clips this away towards midwicket
flighted beautifully, getting Paul to commit to the shot, before the ball dips, grips and turns to beat the shot and strike him in front of middle and off. Huge appeal and it's turned down. But they are reviewing it. Is it turning too much and missing leg though? There's no inside edge on to pad, so it's all down to ball tracking, which is taking a while. As suspected, it's turning too far, and missing the stumps. Sri Lanka lose their review.
similar floated up ball, but tighter into the stumps. Drilled to mid off.
floated up and pitched wide. Allen strides out and slams that through the covers. Gets a free hit next ball as it's a no-ball as well.
floated up, straightening on off stump. Allen goes back and hits it in the offside, but can't beat Mathews at cover.
short and wide, but I think that's a slower ball. Allen slams that away to the sweeper cover
another bouncer, this time just outside off stump. Allen runs at this ball and tries another hook. Again no chance of a connection.
slower ball, length on the stumps. Allen spots it and just keeps it out
bouncer, seemed pretty slippery. Surprises Allen a bit and he offers a half-hearted hook that never really had a chance of connecting
full on off stump, almost a yorker. Crunched to cover.
Shortish ball to begin with, and Allen is back on his heels very quickly, cracking that through midwicket for four with a pull shot
Ashan : "Feel that the reason Sri Lanka has been a below par team in the last few years is that young promising spinners such as Tharindu Kaushal , Sachithra Senanayake and most recently Akila being banned due to illegal action and thus lacking a wicket taker in the most crucial periods of the game. With the promise Hasaranga is showing there is only one way this SL team is heading if he manages to keep his action just the way it is ;)" Neither of these spinners should have issues with actions, given they are wristspinners.
Pradeep is back into the attack.
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W |
2W | ||||
1W | ||||
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Sooriyawewa, Hambantota | |
Toss | West Indies, elected to field first |
Series | |
Season | 2019/20 |
Player Of The Match | |
Series result | Sri Lanka led the 3-match series 2-0 |
Match number | ODI no. 4247 |
Match days | 26 February 2020 - daynight (50-over match) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee |