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

Free-hit coming up.

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.

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

11 to win from 15 balls. Malinga walks in.

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.

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