Hope ton not enough for West Indies

A century from Shai Hope was not enough to help West Indies to a victory over Sri Lanka in the opening match of the three-match One Day International series in Colombo, on Saturday.

Sri Lanka pulled off a close one wicket win with five balls remaining. Batting first, opener Hope cracked 115 off 140 balls with ten fours to steer West Indies to 289/7 in 50 overs. Roston Chase and Darren Bravo, who both scored centuries in warm up matches, made 41 and 39 respectively. The West Indies middle order batsmen failed to deliver and were reduced to 240/7 in the 47th over. Keemo Paul and Hayden Walsh Jnr then took the attack to Sri Lanka to propel West Indies to a competitive total. Paul ended on 32 not out off 17 balls and Walsh contributed 20 not out off eight deliveries. Left-arm pacer Isuru Udana was expensive conceding 82 runs in ten overs, but snatched three wickets.

In reply, Sri Lanka were motoring along on 111 without loss in the 18th over with Dimuth Karunaratne and Avishka Fernando at the crease. However, Sri Lanka started losing wickets regularly and progressed to 262/8 in the 46th over to give West Indies the edge. Karunaratne made 52 off 57 balls and Fernando hit 50.

Wanindu Hasaranga then put his team on his shoulders scoring 42 not out to guide Sri Lanka to 290/9 in 49.1 overs. Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph took 3/42 in ten overs, Paul grabbed 2/48 in 8.1 overs and Walsh snatched 2/38 in five overs.

The second match will be played on Wednesday.

SUMMARISED SCORES

West Indies 289/7 (50 overs) (Shai Hope 115, Roston Chase 41, Darren Bravo 39, Keemo Paul 32 not out, Hayden Walsh Jnr 20 not out; Isuru Udana 3/82) vs Sri Lanka 290/9 (49.1 overs) (Dimuth Karunaratne 52, Avishka Fernando 50, Wanindu Hasaranga 42 not out; Alzarri Joseph 3/42, K Paul 2/48, H Walsh 2/38) Sri Lanka won by one wicket