Overview

West Indies vs Sri Lanka, 1st ODI
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, West Indies
10 March 2021; 09:30 am local

The road to qualify for the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is not an easy one for West Indies. They are languishing at the bottom of the Super League table, still waiting to open their account. They have three losses in three games, having suffered an emphatic defeat against Bangladesh in January this year.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka will be looking forward to playing their first match in the Super League. 

The T20Is were a closely contested affair with the hosts winning the final match by a narrow margin to take the series 2-1. With the momentum in their favour, coupled with the home advantage, they seem to be in the driver’s seat for now.

They can take inspiration from their captain Kieron Pollard, who is in a blazing form with the bat after hitting Akila Dananjaya for six sixes in the first match.

Remember the Last Time:

The last time West Indies and Sri Lanka went up against each other in ODIs was in February 2020 with the Lankans handing West Indies a 3-0 defeated. The Windies came close to winning twice in that series but lost the first game by just one wicket (and five balls to spare) and last one by a mere six runs.

The memories will still be fresh from that tour and West Indies would be looking to make amends. Another troublesome fact for the hosts is their recent ODI record. They have lost their last six ODIs, their last win in the format coming in January 2020 against Ireland.

What they said:

Kieron Pollard, West Indies captain: "As a team we need to start winning cricket matches, win series. Because we can go down the line of saying 'we need to blood this talent, blood this talent', but some of you same guys will start talking about the results as well."