Nicholas Pooran’s maiden ODI century went in vain as Sri Lanka beat the West Indies by 23 runs on Monday. West Indies got off to a poor start as they lost Sunil Ambris and Shai Hope cheaply. Chris Gayle once again failed to put
on his show and got out trying to go after the bowler. Nicholas Pooran batted positively from one end but the wickets kept falling from the other end. He got support in Faben Allen who complimented him from the other end. Allen
completed his maiden ODI century while Pooran scored his maiden ODI ton. A mix-up between the two batsmen resulted in an unfortunate runout. Sensing the game is slipping away, Sri Lanka brought former skipper Angelo
Mathews into the attack and he dismissed Pooran on his first ball which turned out to be the biggest turning point in the match. Earlier, Sri Lanka posted a mammoth total of 338/6 in 50 overs against West Indies at Riverside Ground
in Durham on Monday. Avishka Fernando scored his maiden hundred, which powered Sri Lanka to a their highest total of World Cup 2019. He smashed 104 runs off 103 balls with the help of nine fours and two sixes. After being
invited to bat by the West Indies, Sri Lanka got off to a terrific start as openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera stitched a 93-run partnership for the first wicket. Kusal Perera hit 64 runs off 51 balls, including eight boundaries.
Efforts of Kusal Mendis (39), Dimuth Karunaratne (32) and Lahiru Thirimanne (45*) also added to Sri Lanka’s total. For West Indies, skipper Jason Holder was the leading wicket-taker with two wickets. Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane
Thomas and Fabian Allen claimed one wicket apiece.
