West Indies eye retribution after narrow opening defeat
Overview
Sri Lanka v West Indies, 2nd ODI
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota
Wednesday, 26 February; 02.30pm local, 09.00am GMT
Three-match series give very little time for teams to recover from defeats and put their game together. But fortunately for West Indies, despite coming up short in the series opener, they had plenty of positives to take from the game, making the process slightly easier.
West Indies’ batting would largely please them, despite the failures of the middle order, with most of the top four coming good, before the lower order showed a lot of grit in laying the finishing touches to an innings that had lost significant steam. Their bowlers couldn’t quite haul them to victory, but they pushed Sri Lanka to the limit, making the home team earn their win.
This game does break our hearts at times 💔 😫 How close was that🤯! WI soldier on to the next. #MenInMaroon🌴 #ItsOurGame #SLvWI pic.twitter.com/QxN38PRffc
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) February 22, 2020
Sri Lanka did a lot of things right, most notably the number of contributions they received from all around the batting order. Now, the key for them would be to retain that level of consistency and seal the series – something they haven’t been quite adept at doing in the recent past. But with the familiarity of home, and a hard-earned win to boot, they sure do have the belief that it can be done.
What happened last time
Shai Hope’s century underlined a strong West Indies batting performance, as they racked up 289/7. Sri Lanka’s top three made solid starts, which set the tone for a successful chase, providing them cushion against wickets later in the innings, as Wanindu Hasaranga’s 39-ball 42 not out hauled the hosts home in the final over.
What they said
Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka captain: **“**Of course, winning is the ultimate thing, but we made couple of mistakes that we have to learn from. Only concern that in the last ten overs, we gave 90 runs, which we need to correct next game.”
Wanindu Hasaranga🔥 has proved to be a finisher, as he lifted Sri Lanka to a victory from a knife-edge as he did in the Premier T20 final for CCC last month. #SLvWI pic.twitter.com/bciKq64JuW
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) February 22, 2020
Kieron Pollard, West Indies captain: “Good game of cricket, came down to the last over with the crowd on its feet. Normally, guys like me and Pooran finish it off, but it couldn't happen today. A couple of soft dismissals in the middle really set us back.”
Conditions
The weather will be partly sunny and pleasant. A breezy afternoon is expected in Hambantota. This will be the first ODI at the Rajapaksa stadium in over two years.
