West Indies embarked upon their three-ODI sequence in opposition to Sri Lanka from Sabina Park, Kingston with a tough fought seven-wicket victory within the first ODI claiming the primary match of the olumulo. With captain Shai Hope anchoring the innings, the home side achieved 149 for 3 in 47.2 overs after asking a target of 148.
Batting first after winning the toss, Sri Lanka found goals difficult to come by against a disciplined bowling display from West Indies. The visitors suffered a few early blows in the powerplay, thus, making their middle order vulnerable. Kusal Mendis made a vital contribution to provide stability while Kamindu Mendis also took important responsibility with the bat to keep Sri Lanka afloat.
Sri Lanka could never get a significant partnership going and West Indies’ bowlers struck regularly, ensuring they were not able to up the run-rate through the latter half of the innings. Jason Holder (2 wickets) and Shamar Joseph also gave nothing away from there and picked up the important wickets of Dawid Malan and Jonathan Cook respectively. Sri Lanka had a few handy partnerships but ended up with only 147 for 9 in their full quota of 20 overs, which looked about at least 15 short on a wicket that offered reasonable batting conditions.
The West Indies made a promising start in reply, aided by an aggressive innings from Brandon King at the top of the order. His attacking instincts helped the home side to take control of the chase early. With King gone, Hope stepped into fill-the gap and managed to keep the train pretty much on the tracks. The captain showed more composure, playing rotatably and punishing bad balls.
Yet, Sri Lanka’s bowlers rallied well enough in the middle overs to push some pressure back with a few tight overs. The tourists had taken a couple of wickets to spark brief hopes they might defend their meagre total. But Hope kept calm in a pressure situation and helped steer the chase along.
West Indies, needing just a few important runs in the closing stages of the match but experienced campaigners in the lower middle order made sure there would be no spectacular collapse. The exuberant Rovman Powell then finished the job off in another cameo before the hosts crossed the line with 5 balls remaining in the 20th over.
The win allows the West Indies an all-important advantage in a series and maintains their quality within home T20 conditions. For Sri Lanka, the loss certainly spiraled off from a good solid platform and this series also exposed some challenges in the batting unit which however will need immediate resolutions. The visitors have two matches to go there and will be eager for a response that draws the series even, while West Indies target another T20I victory to seal the contest ahead of that second T20I.