Sri Lanka take series with 26-run win

Sri Lanka displayed their bowling strength ahead of the 2011 World Cup when they rested three key bowlers and yet ended up beating West Indies by 26 runs in the third and final one-day international to take the series 2-0.

Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara were missing from their line-up but their back-up bowling unit comprising Dilhara Fernando, Ajantha Mendis and Thisara Perera did extremely well to defend a total of 277 for 9 by bowling West Indies out for 251 in 49 overs.

West Indies got off to a bad start, losing openers Chris Gayle and Adrian Barath for ducks before recovering through a 125-run stand between Darren Bravo, who hit an attractive 79 of 91 balls with nine fours and one six, and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who scored 51 off 66 balls.

Once the partnership was broken, West Indies struggled to maintain the required run-rate despite contributions of 32 from Dwayne Bravo and 49 from Carlton Baugh. Sri Lanka's pace-cum-spin attack came back strongly to make frequent inroads into the batting, with Ajantha Mendis eventually wrapping the innings up with a spell of three wickets for nine runs off 10 balls during the batting Powerplay. He finished with figures of 4 for 46.

Sri Lanka, invited to bat first on the same pitch where the first two matches were played, reached 277 for 9 in their 50 overs, with all their top-order batsmen getting into form but none going on to make a three-figure score.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara's 75 off 105 balls was the top score with Mahela Jayawardene making the second highest score with 44. The pair added 95 for the third wicket off 114 balls, after openers Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan had given them a rollicking start by posting 54 off 50 balls.

Dilshan smashed two fours and a six in his 28-ball 30, before edging a catch behind the wicket attempting to cut a ball too close to his body. Tharanga, who scored a century in the second ODI, helped Sangakkara raise the total to 92 before inside-edging a ball from Sulieman Benn onto his stumps with his score on 30. Sangakkara was given a reprieve at 34 when he lofted Nikita Miller to deep midwicket where Barath made a lot of ground but spilled the catch and the ball crossed the boundary. The miss proved to be costly because Sangakkara took the attack to the bowlers and looked good for a century before he played all over a Benn delivery and was bowled.

Sri Lanka failed to make much headway in the batting Powerplay, which they took at 177-2 in the 37th over. They lost the two in-form batsmen: Jayawardene for 44 top-edging a pull and Sangakkara.

The departure of the top four batsmen at 205 saw the Sri Lanka run-rate slump. The brittle middle order failed to capitalise on the platform laid by the early batsmen as Sri Lanka lost five wickets for 39 runs. Thilana Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera and Perera all went cheaply as Benn worked himself towards his best ODI bowling figures, finishing with four wickets for 38.

The innings was given late momentum by Angelo Mathews, who slammed a quick 36 not out off 22 balls to help Sri Lanka cross the 275-run mark.

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Tharanga powers SL to easy win

Upul Tharanga's ninth one-day century and his first against West Indies steered Sri Lanka to a convincing eight-wicket win and a 1-0 lead in the three-match one-day series.

Tharanga paced his innings superbly, and batted out the entire length of the Sri Lanka innings, to remain unbeaten on 101 off 143 balls with the help of seven fours.

The tall, lean left-hander is expected to play the sheet anchor role during Sri Lanka's World Cup campaign and bat out the entire 50 overs. On Thursday, he showed what he is capable of doing, as Sri Lanka chased down a rain-revised total of 197 off 47 overs in just 42.3, after West Indies had been dismissed for 203.

Tharanga's innings was chanceless, and on a slow pitch which suited his style of batting he was never in trouble despite West Indies using as many as seven bowlers, who managed to prize out only two wickets between them.

Tillakaratne Dilshan left in the ninth over, attempting to cut a ball too close to his body and offering a catch behind the wicket. Captain Kumar Sangakkara managed 20 out of a second-wicket stand of 70 with Tharanga, before hitting a half volley from Dwayne Bravo to short extra cover.

Mahela Jayawardene and Tharanga made sure West Indies didn't make any further inroads into the batting by sharing an unbroken stand of 97. Jayawardene sealed the match with an inside-out drive to the boundary off Miller. He was unbeaten on 48 at the end of the match.

Sri Lanka came up with a disciplined bowling performance to restrict West Indies to 203. Given the persistent rain over the previous two days, the toss was vital and Sri Lanka had no hesitation in inviting West Indies to bat on the same surface on which the first match was played three days ago. Openers Chris Gayle and Adrian Barath, who made a century in the first ODI, negotiated some testing overs from Lasith Malinga and Nuwana Kulasekara to add 45 runs within the first 10 overs, before Kulasekara trapped Barath lbw, playing across the line to a ball that pitched on off stump.

Gayle, who had previously hit Kulasekara for a six and four in one over, then edged Muttiah Muralitharan to Thilan Samaraweera at second slip. Gayle came forward to a good length ball and was surprised by the bounce that Muralitharan got off the very first ball of his spell.

The fall of the openers on 45 slowed West Indies' run-rate and Sangakkara took advantage of it by getting a few overs from part-time offspinner Dilshan in. West Indies looked to be getting their innings back on track as Darren Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan added 49 runs off 96 balls. The stand ended when Sarwan, who was backing up too far at the non-striker's end, was run out after a hard drive by Darren Bravo hit the stumps off bowler Rangana Herath's hand.

Darren was joined by his half-brother Dwayne Bravo and the duo put on 38 before Malinga, returning for his second spell, trapped Darren Bravo lbw with a reverse-swinging delivery. Another reverse-swinging delivery from Malinga soon accounted for the dangerous Kieron Pollard, who played down the wrong line, and had his off stump pegged back.

Dwayne Bravo and Carlton Baugh added a further 37 runs to take West Indies to 175 for 5 before Herath, who had bowled a tight line and length, was finally rewarded with the wicket of Dwayne Bravo. The remaining West Indies batsmen failed to offer much resistance as the last four wickets fell for just 16 runs.

It was an all-round bowling effort from the Sri Lankans, with Malinga the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 30. Sri Lanka's fielders backed their bowlers with some excellent ground fielding and missed just one catch when Angelo Mathews dropped Baugh at long leg.

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