Sri Lanka hold nerve to seal final berth

Ewin Lewis's magnificent 122-ball 148 went in vain as Sri Lanka beat West Indies by one run in their tri-series encounter at Bulawayo on Wednesday (November 23). Nuwan Pradeep defended nine runs in the last over to help his team seal a berth in the final. Their opponents will be decided after the encounter between Zimbabwe and West Indies. Chasing 331 to win, West Indies ran out of steam in the end and could post 329 for 9 in 50 overs.

West Indies had never successfully chased 300 or more in One-Day Internationals. Considering a challenging total was posted in front of them, Lewis walked out partnering Charles instead of Kraigg Brathwaite. The opening pair had only one agenda, if the ball is in their arc, then it has to be dispatched. With this mindset the duo added a quickfire 63-run stand for the first wicket before Charles was dismissed for a 24-ball 26 by Suranga Lakmal.

By the time the first drinks break arrived in the 15th over, Lewis had survived an lbw review in the very first over, a dropped catch in the fifth over, reached his fifty off 41 balls and he got an lbw decision overturned in the 14th over. The left-hander had plenty of luck, outside edges falling short of fielders, mishits falling in no man's land and inside edges missing the stumps, but Lewis did not let that change his approach.

At the other end, Brathwaite summed up why he was sent at No. 3, it was to anchor the innings and perform the role that Darren Bravo used to play. The stoic right-hander was an ideal partner for the aggressive Lewis, their association was worth 70 runs when Asela Gunaratne went through Braithwaite's defenses.

The centurion from the previous game, Shai Hope was the next batsman in and he too had a mini partnership (42) with Lewis. The duo was cruising smoothly before Lewis went for a non-existent second that would give him his hundred and Nuwan Pradeep caught Hope short of the crease with a direct-hit. Nonetheless, Lewis got to his maiden ODI hundred in the same over and became the first West Indian opener to score a ton since Chris Gayle's 215 in the 2015 World Cup.

Lewis was involved in another run-out, Jonathan Carter was the unlucky batsman this time and he too was caught short by a direct-hit from Upul Tharanga. The opener himself survived a run-out scare, where he was short of the crease, but Dickwella had disturbed the stumps before the ball made contact with the sticks.

Even though Nuwan Kulasekara pinged Rovman Powell in front and had West Indies five down, Lewis kept motoring along at a rapid pace, striking two mighty slog sweeps for sixes in the 39th over. Holder played perfect second fiddle to Lewis as the duo brought the equation down to 71 off the final ten overs. However, disaster struck in the 41st over when Holder sold Lewis down the river. The West Indian captain was ball-watching and Lewis was more than halfway down the wicket, he perished for a fine 148, run out by Kusal Mendis.

Carlos Brathwaite joined Holder and he immediately got a reprieve, Tharanga dropping a tough chance near mid-on, which cost Sri Lanka 16 runs as Brathwaite departed for a 16-ball 19. That wicket tilted the game in Sri Lanka's favour, Suliemann Benn though, thought otherwise. The lanky left-arm spinner hit a six to get the equation down to three off three balls and got out leaving Holder to score three off one ball. The West Indies skipper could only manage a single handing his opponents a place in the final.

Earlier, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Mendis scored fifties to propel Sri Lanka to their highest total against West Indies in ODIs. Gabriel generated plenty of heat in his first couple of overs and with the wicket of Perera, he had his tail up. However, a hamstring injury sent him back to the pavilion and kept him out of the field for 12 overs. He only returned to bowl in the 31st over, and by then the Sri Lankan top-order had shifted the momentum in their favour.

There was a certain sense of urgency in Sri Lanka's approach. De Silva and Dickwella kept the scorecard ticking with some sumptuous hits. The duo counter-attacked after the fall of an early wicket and took the initiative back from West Indies and in the process went on to add 105 runs for the second wicket.

Dickwella had shown glimpses of his form in the previous matches and he did not take much time to get going, opening his account with a well-timed cover drive. The positive nature rubbed off on de Silva as well and the pair had raced to 71 by the time the first powerplay ended.

Holder called upon his spinners to keep a check on the scoring rate and it was a combination of Ashley Nurse and Kraigg Brathwaite, who did a good job of containing the run-flow. The latter eventually prising out de Silva for 58 leaving Sri Lanka at 123 for 2.

Mendis started off from where de Silva had left, scoring at a brisk pace and playing the perfect foil to Dickwella. The pair rotated the strike and found the boundary at will as they added the second successive 100-plus partnership of the innings.

The West Indies captain was running out of ideas and he took the onus on himself to break the association. He brought himself on after the second drinks break and struck in the second over off his spell, trapping Dickwella for 94. The left-hander challenged umpire Ray Illingworth's decision and saw it being withheld as the ball was crashing into leg-stump.

Mendis took over the reins from Dickwella and started to smash the bowlers to all parts, especially Nurse, whom he hammered for three sixes, before he was dismissed caught behind six short of his maiden ODI hundred.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 330-7 in 50 overs (Kusal Mendis 94, Niroshan Dickwella 94; Jason Holder 3-57) beat West Indies 329-9 in 50 overs (Ewin Lewis 148) by one run.