Charith Asalanka’s heroic batting guided Sri Lanka to victory over West Indies by five wickets in the second ODI on Wednesday, hence clinching victory in this bilateral series contest which comprised 3 matches.
Sri Lanka was running the chase for a daunting target of 190 which they managed to get with as many as 34 balls remaining. Asalanka finished this game with the bat scoring 62 at an impressive strike rate of Over 100.
This game also featured a rain delay causing the match to be rain-affected with each team playing 44 overs, resulting in spilling the hours for the match.
Sri Lanka lost two wickets in no time and a bail out was provided due to a partnership of 62 runs for the 2nd wicket between Nishan Madushka (38) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (38).
Asalanka scored the winning runs, finishing unbeaten on 62. He was well supported by batterers in the lower middle order including Janith Liyanage who added 24 runs on the fifth wicket partnership.
Asalanka this time scored 77 runs that day, on none other than the strongest/bowlers then. This secured the hosts a win by a margin of 2-0, taking over the balance one match, on Sunday’s game.
Moreover, this constitutes Sri-Lankan women’s fifth consecutive ODI series win of the year and their tenth straight home series success.
Earlier, Sherfane Rutherford (80) shared a record 119-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) to lift West Indies from a precarious 58-8 after they were put in to bat in overcast conditions.
According to the statistics available, this was the best ninth-wicket stand for West Indies in ODIs coming up ahead of the 85 run record shared between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph against New Zealand in Barbados in 2022.
The win was not in vain as batting first in the gloomy weather conditions, Sherfane Rutherford scored his second half-century of the series and his career best in ODIs. Twice dropped on 23 and then again on 72, showcasing his powerful strike hitting four sixes and seven fours in 82 balls.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES:
B. King c & b A.M. Fernando 16
A. Athanaze b Theekshana 1
K. Carty b Theekshana 6
S. Hope b A.M. Fernando 5
S. Rutherford c Wellalage b A.M. Fernando 80
R. Chase b Hasaranga 8
R. Shepherd c Theekshana b Hasaranga 4
H. Walsh b Theekshana 1
A. Joseph b Hasaranga 1
G. Motie not out 50
J. Seales c & b Hasaranga 5
EXTRAS (B-2, LB-6, NB-1, W-3) 12
TOTAL (all out, 36 overs) 189
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-17 (Athanaze), 2-17 (King), 3-23 (Hope), 4-31 (Carty), 5-52 (Chase), 6-56 (Shepherd), 7-57 (Walsh), 8-58 (Joseph), 9-177 (Rutherford)
BOWLING: Theekshana 9-1-25-3 (1w, 1nb), A. M. Fernando 7-0-35-3 (1w), Wellalage 6-0-36-0 (1w), Hasaranga 8-0-40-4, Asalanka 4-0-26-0, K.D. Mendis 2-0-19-0
SRI LANKA:
N. Madushka b Joseph 38
A. Fernando c King b Joseph 9
K. Mendis b Motie 3
S. Samarawickrama c Hope b Chase 38
C. Asalanka not out 62
J. Liyanage run out 24
K.D. Mendis not out 11
EXTRAS (LB-3, W-2) 5
TOTAL (for five wickets, 38.2 overs) 190
DID NOT BAT: W. Hasaranga, D. Wellalage, M. Theekshana, A.M. Fernando
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-14 (A. Fernando), 2-25 (K. Mendis), 3-87 (Madushka), 4-112 (Samarawickrama), 5-167 (Liyanage)
BOWLING: Motie 9-2-18-1, Joseph 6-0-30-2 (1w), Seales 3-0-20-0, Walsh 5-0-41-0, Shepherd 4-0-23-0, Chase 8.2-0-43-1, Athanaze 3-0-12-0 (1w)
RESULT: Sri Lanka won by five wickets.