KANDY, Sri Lanka, CMC – Marlon Samuels roared back to form by hammering an unbeaten century but his gladiator- like one- man assault was overshadowed by Sri Lanka’s comfortable 19-run victory over the West Indies in the rain shortened third and final One-Day International here yesterday.
Samuels rebounded from a poor test series to carve out a brilliant 110 which rescued his side from a spectacular implosion but the parade of top order batsmen back to the pavilion before a lengthy rain break worked against the visitors.
Samuel’s century, his 9th in ODI, lifted Windies from 105 for six to 206 for the loss of nine wickets in a match reduced to 36 overs before the home side appeared to be cruising to the Duckworth Lewis target of 190.
However, the match ended in an anti-climax with Sri Lanka 180 for five when a steady drizzle forced the players off the field, giving the host victory by way of the Duckworth Lewis method and completing a three-nil series win.
Samuels’s undefeated century, acquired in 143 minutes from 95 balls from which he struck 15 fours and a six, was the only splash of brilliance for West Indies who struggled to take wickets and were sloppy in the field.
Sri Lanka’s seamers ran through the West Indies top order to engineer a dramatic batting collapse inside the first six overs after the visitors were sent in to bat.
SCOREBOARD
West Indies innings
J Charles c Dilshan b Malinga 4
ADS Fletcher lbw b Lakmal 6
J Blackwood c Dilshan b Malinga 2
DM Bravo b Lakmal 4
MN Samuels not out 110
D Ramdin† c †Perera b Chameera 4
JL Carter c †Perera b Mendis 6
JO Holder* c †Perera b Chameera 19
CR Brathwaite lbw b Mendis 18
SP Narine c Chandimal b Mathews 9
R Rampaul not out 2
Extras (lb 5, w 17) 22
Total (9 wickets; 36 overs) 206
Fall of wickets 1-4 (Charles), 2-12
(Fletcher),3-16 (Blackwood), 4-18 (Bravo), 5-52 (Ramdin), 6-84 (Carter), 7-109 (Holder), 8-164 (Brathwaite), 9-195 (Narine)
Bowling: Malinga 7-0-43-2, Lakmal 7-0-40-2, Chameera 7-0-39-2, Siriwardana 5-0-17-0, Mendis 8-0-51-2, Mathews 2-0-11-1.
Sri Lanka innings
MDKJ Perera† c Blackwood b Rampaul 50
TM Dilshan c Carter b Brathwaite 21
HDRL Thirimanne
c Samuels b Holder 21
LD Chandimal c †Ramdin b Carter 23
AD Mathews* not out 27
TAM Siriwardana
c †Ramdin b Holder 17
DSNFG Jayasuriya not out 11
Extras (lb 3, w 6, nb 1) 10
Total (5 wickets; 32.3 overs) 180
Did not bat:PVD Chameera, BAW Mendis, SL Malinga, RAS Lakmal
Fall of wickets 1-40 (Dilshan), 2-95 (Thirimanne), 3-103 (Perera), 4-134 (Chandimal), 5-161 (Siriwardana)
Bowling: Rampaul 5-0-34-1, Narine 7.3,1-24-0, Holder 7-0-44-2, Brathwaite 7-0-40-1, Blackwood 3-0-16-0, Carter 3-0-19-1.
Result: Sri Lanka won by 19 runs.
Series: Sri Lanka won 3-0.
Man-of-the-Match: Marlon Samuels.
Toss: Sri Lanka.
Umpires: Michael Gough and Raveendra Wimalasiri
