Akeal Hosein’s economical bowling and Darren Bravo’s century helped West Indies bag a clinical series sweep over Sri Lanka. The hosts eased past the target of 274 in the final ODI with five wickets in hand to pocket 30 points from the series.
Sri Lanka batted first for the third time in the series and had yet another solid start. Danushka Gunathilaka and Dimuth Karunaratne scored 68 for the opening wicket but both were dismissed in successive overs. There was a brief recovery where Pathum Nissanka and Dinesh Chandimal pushed the score past 50 but both were fell to Hosein as Sri Lanka slipped to 116 for 4 in the 25th over.
Dasun Shanaka became Hosein’s third victim while Thisara Perera was run out by Nicolas Pooran as Sri Lanka were left in deep danger of positing another below-par total. However, Ashen Bandara (55 not out) and Wanindu Hasaranga (80 not out) made crucial contirubtions, adding 123 from 111 deliveries to give the bowlers a fighting chance. Hasaranga was particularly aggressive and scored at a strike rate of more than 130 while Bandara preferred to take the cautious approach to prevent another batting collapse.
Evin Lewis and Shai Hope, who had struck century stands in the last two games, couldn’t quite repeat their feat as the former was dismissed early. Jason Mohammed too fell for just eight as West Indies made a slow start. Shai Hope and Bravo collaborated to get the chase going with their 109-run stand and gave the middle-order a solid platform to launch a late assault.
When Hope was dismissed in the 32nd over, West Indies had 148 on the board and needed 129 in the last 19 overs. Pooran struck two sixes before he was trapped lbw by Gunathilaka but Pollard slammed a half-century to shut the door on the visitors. Bravo and Pollard made 80 off 71 to effectively seal the contest. Bravo got to his century off 130 balls but fell two deliveries later. Pollard slammed a six to get to his half-century and scored 27 off 15 with Jason Holder for the sixth wicket to bag the win with nine balls to spare.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 274/6 in 50 overs (Wanindu Hasaranga 80*, Ashen Bandara 55*; Akeal Hosein 3-33) lost to West Indies 276/5 in 48.3 overs (Darren Bravo 102, Kieron Pollard 53*; Suranga Lakmal 2-56) by five wickets.
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