Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara sends one to the fence during his unbeaten knock of 90 against West Indies on Monday. (AFP)
AFP/Port of Spain
Sri Lanka weathered a middle-order revival by the West Indies and held on for a 39-run victory on the Duckworth/Lewis scoring method in a rain-affected fifth match of the Tri-Nation Series at Queen’s Park Oval on Monday.
Kumar Sangakkara crafted a superb, unbeaten 90 to lift the visitors to a competitive 219 for eight in a match forced into the reserve day because of the elements and reduced to 41 overs-per-side.
Half-centuries by Darren Bravo (70) and Lendl Simmons (67) then threatened to take the home team to a revised target of 230 before a sense of haste in the midst of light rain and the cooler heads of the Sri Lankans saw the West Indies restricted to 190 for nine in reply.
While the result pushes Sri Lanka to the top of the standings ahead of the Caribbean side by virtue of a better net run-rate, a victory for India over Angelo Mathews’ team in the final preliminary match will result in the calculators again being deployed to determine the qualifiers for tomorrow’s final.
Sangakkara claimed the man-of-the-match award for his excellent innings, but Mathews also made vital contributions with bat and ball in ensuring his side avenged the six-wicket defeat suffered at the hands of the West Indies in the opening match of the tournament in Kingston 10 days earlier. His 30 off 27 balls gave the innings important impetus towards the end and figures of four for 29, including the vital scalp of Chris Gayle at the start of the West Indies chase, proved critical in completing victory.
Sangakkara’s 95-ball knock, his 76th half-century in one-day international cricket, included one six and six fours but was defined more by trademark timing, placement and a sensible appreciation of the circumstances than the hell-for-leather hitting usually associated with the final stages of a limited-over match.