Evin Lewis, playing his first ODI since 2021, helped the West Indies seal a consolation win against Sri Lanka in the 3rd and final ODI. Despite sustaining an ankle injury midway through his innings, Evin Lewis remained unbeaten on 102. Evin Lewis fifth ODI century came off just 61 balls and featured a straight six that sealed the deal for his team.
As mentioned, Evin Lewis played his first ODI since July 2021, when he featured against Australia in Bridgetown. Evin Lewis, who made his ODI debut in 2016, now has 1,949 runs from 58 matches at an average of 38.98. The tally includes five tons and 10 half-centuries. The one against SL was his maiden ODI ton since the 2020/21 season. Evin Lewis has an incredible record against Sri Lanka in ODI cricket. He has racked up 458 runs from six ODIs against them at a staggering average of 91.60. Three of his five ODI tons have come against the Lankans.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : It has suddenly gone a bit gloomy. There might be a bit of rain here and there. Fresh pitch today, so the dimensions are even on either side. Dry pitch. Lots of cracks but they are bound nicely together. There won’t be a lot of turn and as it gets cooler in the evening, it (the ball) will slide on reckons Russell Arnold
Toss : West Indies skipper Shai Hope won the toss and chose to bowl with three changes in the playing XI. Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka who also wanted to bowl first made two changes in the playing XI.
Kusal Mendis 19 ball 50 powers Sri Lanka to 156 for 3 in 23 overs
Compared to how Sri Lanka finished, their start could be considered sedate as openers Avishka Fernando and Pathum Nissanka took the team to 47 for 0 in 10 overs. Nissanka made the most of the chance offered to him in the first over when Brandon King couldn’t hold onto a tough chance at first slip, to push Sri Lanka along.
Even as the threat of rain loomed the two openers solidified Sri Lanka’s essay, taking them to 81 for 0 in 17 overs. On the first ball of the 18th over, Fernando gave Roston Chase a return catch after which the players were forced indoors as rain arrived. It kept the players indoors for nearly the next five hours, before they were out to play the truncated fixture.
Kusal Mendis took the change as an invitation to take risks as he hit Chase for four successive fours in the same over. While Nissanka got to his fifty, Mendis flew from the other end. He carted nine fours and a six in his 22-ball 56 as Sri Lanka added 75 runs in the 5.4 overs after the rain break. The re-calculated target left West Indies with a mountain to climb and were perhaps staring at a 3-0 series defeat.
Sri Lanka were 156-3 in 23 overs after touring captain Shai Hope won the toss and opted to field. At this point, rain intervened, and the Sri Lankan innings had to be curtailed. For the hosts, Pathum Nissanka made 56 in 62 balls and Kusal Mendis 56 not out in 22 as Matthew Forde (5-0-12-0) starred with the ball. The West Indies adjusted target was 195 in 23 overs.
Sri Lanka, though, will have positives to take away from this game, particularly in how aggressively they approached the post-rain period, knowing that they didn’t have much time to scrounge up a competitive total. The opening 17.2 overs had seen Sri Lanka stitch together a measured start, with openers Pathum Nissanka and Avishka Fernando putting on 81.
That, though, owed much to West Indies dropping three chances – two of Nissanka and one of Avishka – inside the opening ten overs. This poor catching did not get much better after the five-hour rain delay, with Kusal also dropped twice on the way to becoming the third-quickest Sri Lanka batter to 4000 ODI runs.
It all began with the four balls left in Roston Chase’s second over, as Kusal proceeded to clatter each of them for boundaries – two precise pulls, one stunning straight drive, and finally a fortunate inside edge down to fine leg. In all, Sri Lanka struck 12 boundaries in the final 34 deliveries they faced.
The shortened game also had some knock-on effects on West Indies’ bowling plans, as the new provisos meant three bowlers were given a quota of five overs each, while two others were handed four apiece. Once Chase’s over, in which Kusal had struck four consecutive boundaries, was belatedly completed, and with Sri Lanka in raucous mood, West Indies were suddenly faced with the proposition of figuring out how Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales, and Alzarri Joseph – who had bowled four, four and three overs, respectively – would split the remains.
And with the economical Matthew Forde already having bowled five overs prior to the rain break, it meant only two more bowlers could bowl five; so they needed to find one more over from somewhere. With Chase having been dispatched upon the resumption of play, it was left to Rutherford to roll his arm over, and he was duly taken for 17 runs courtesy two fours and a six.
Enter Kusal Mendis, who bludgeoned an unbeaten 56 off 22 deliveries – he got the half-century off 19 balls – as Sri Lanka themselves struck 75 runs in those final 5.4 overs to end on 156 for 3, and gave themselves a fighting chance. In the end, though, a combination of a wet outfield, wet ball and a laser-focused Lewis proved too much to overcome. And as Kusal’s carefree innings continued in earnest, Sri Lanka eventually managed to muster up a competitive total – though it proved to be just not good enough on the day.
Evin Lewis Third-fastest ODI century by a West Indian carries West Indies to 8 wicket win over SL in SL in 19 years
West Indies started well behind the asking rate through King and Lewis before the former hit a delivery from Asitha Fernando to the deep square leg fielder in the sixth over. Lewis and Shai Hope dragged West Indies to 76 for 1 in 10 overs and were still way behind the eight-ball. In the 12th over, Evin Lewis got to a 34-ball 50 even as the game started to slip away from the visitors’ grasp.
Things slipped further as Hope’s labored stay was then brought to an end in the 15th over by Dilshan Madushanka – a wicket that inadvertently gave West Indies the shot in the arm they needed as Rutherford joined Lewis.
The pair dragged Sri Lanka to 125 for 2 in 17 overs, with the equation now reading: 70 runs off 36 balls. The pair slowly but surely turned the screws on Sri Lanka from here as they hit three fours off Charith Asalanka in a 14-run 18th over. Rutherford then took apart Theekshana for 18 – two sixes and a four, that brought the target down to 38 off 24.
Fernando nailed his full lengths outside the off-stump but the pair smartly took singles after Rutherford got an early boundary in the over, to take 10 off it. Rutherford then carved a Madushanka yorker for a four and Evin Lewis hit him for a six to move into the 90s and take the game by the scruff of its neck.
15 off 12 was swiftly reduced to 5 off 7 as Rutherford tonked another six over long-on in the 22nd over from Fernando. Evin Lewis then fittingly finished the game with a straight six that also earned him his exceptional century. The West Indies adjusted target was 195 in 23 overs. They began at a run a ball before Evin Lewis cut loose. Sri Lanka had a sniff when the West Indies needed 77 in 42 balls with Sherfane Rutherford new at the crease.
But Rutherford exploded, as did Evin Lewis at the other end. Between them, they hit three fours in the next over before Rutherford hit six, six, four off three consecutive balls from Maheesh Theekshana. Sri Lanka still brought the equation to 22 in 14, but three sixes – two by Lewis, one by Rutherford – sealed the match for the visitors with an over to spare.
The winning six took Evin Lewis to 102 not out, off only 61 balls, making it the third-fastest ODI hundred for the West Indies, after Brian Lara (45 balls against Bangladesh at Dhaka, 1999/00) and Chris Gayle (55 balls against England, 2018/19). In all, he hit nine fours and four sixes. Rutherford, meanwhile, finished unbeaten on a 26-ball 50 (four fours, three sixes).
Brandon King (18 off 19 balls) and Shai Hope (22 off 27) had kept Lewis company for most of the chase, but it wasn’t until Sherfane Rutherford joined him in the middle that West Indies truly took control of proceedings.
Rutherford’s brisk cameo saw him plunder 50 off just 26 deliveries, including four fours and three sixes, with his partnership with Lewis amounting to an unbeaten 88 from just 45 deliveries. It was a pivotal stand in the context of the game, as it came just as Sri Lanka might have been harboring thoughts of a late heist.
With the required run rate at roughly 8.5 an over from the outset, West Indies had done well to just about keep up with it over the opening ten overs – there was at least one boundary in seven of the first 11 overs. But in such a short chase, even a couple of quiet overs can heighten the pressure – and so it proved to be.
Between the 11th and 17th overs, Sri Lanka gave away just 40 runs as the required rate rose to above 11.50 runs an over. Skipper Charith Asalanka had done well in this period by shuffling his pack to sneak in some cheap overs from himself and Kamindu Mendis – both of whom made up the fifth-bowler quota after Wanindu Hasaranga had struggled with controlling a wet ball.
Where Asalanka erred was in bowling himself for one over too many, which allowed Rutherford and Evin Lewis to go after him. That 14-run over set the tone, after which the pair never looked back. The miserly Maheesh Theekshana was rinsed for 18 in the next over, while even the excellent Asitha Fernando was hounded for 26 off his final two. Dilshan Madushanka, playing his first ODI since March, went for 50 in five.
Presentations and Takeaways from the Series
Charith Asalanka Player of the Series and losing skipper said : I’m very pleased with the performance and I feel the whole team performed well. To me, it doesn’t matter. I’m the No. 5 batsman in the team, when I go out to bat, I’m not the captain, I’m just a batter. I’m handling the situation so I don’t feel pressure in my head.
Momentum is on our side and the guys are doing well. Hopefully, we do well in the next series. Hopefully, we will go in with a similar lineup. He batted well throughout the series and also was handy with his off-spinners.
Shai Hope the winning skipper said : Yes, very big job for us. We didn’t have the best time in the field but we made it up with the bat. Most teams don’t come to Sri Lanka and beat them easy. A lot of learning for us, very happy to see the guys finish on a bright note. (On Evin Lewis) He’s an amazing player, great to see him back.
He came off from where he left off. Hopefully, he can transform that into the series we are playing in a couple of days. We all can agree that WI play the shorter format better, Evin is a natural striker of the ball and hope he carries it on. We have to very consistent, this game will give us confidence going into that series. Short series, I’m happy and enjoyed it here.
Evin Lewis has been awarded the player of the match for his scintillating 102* off 61 balls. He is injured so Shai Hope collects the trophy on his behalf.
West Indies open their account in this series and also in ODIs this year. Also their first win on Sri Lankan soil since 2005 in this format, has come after 10 successive losses. Some stats to digest for West Indies fans and they can rejoice. The rain helped them it must be said. It turned this game effectively into a T20 game. And once that happened, it was always advantage West Indies with a shortened game playing right into their hands. All the batters came out with intent but it was Lewis who was the star. He showed why he is such a destructive player with a powerful knock.
Eventually he got to a richly-deserved ton with the winning hit. Credit to him as he battled cramps in the latter part of his innings but kept going. All his trademark blows to the leg-side were there to see and Rutherford continued his great run in this series to make the chase a canter at the end. Sri Lanka were ineffective with their spinners not enjoying the conditions and it looked like Hasaranga was carrying a niggle too. The series though ends 2-1 in favor of them.
After a series in which they consistently failed to get the rub of the green, the stars finally aligned for West Indies as they ended their tour of Sri Lanka with a morale-boosting win. Evin Lewis, playing his first ODI since 2021, struck an unbeaten 102 off 61 balls, as West Indies chased down a DLS-adjusted target of 195 in a rain-reduced game of 23 overs with eight wickets to spare. In fact, they got the required runs with an over to spare. It was their first ODI win in Sri Lanka following ten straight defeats, and their first win on this tour since the first T20I.
Sri Lanka, for their part, had put up a valiant effort after their innings had been cut into less than half. The first 17.2 overs had come prior to the rain intervention, and upon resumption, they were given just a further 5.4 overs to set a competitive total.
Enter Kusal Mendis, who bludgeoned an unbeaten 56 off 22 deliveries – he got the half-century off 19 balls – as Sri Lanka themselves struck 75 runs in those final 5.4 overs to end on 156 for 3, and gave themselves a fighting chance. In the end, though, a combination of a wet outfield, wet ball and a laser-focused Lewis proved too much to overcome.
Sri Lanka took the series 2-1, but the West Indies did win their first ODI in Sri Lanka since the 2005 Indian Oil Cup. On that occasion, they had made 226-7 and bowled out the hosts for 193 at R Premadasa Stadium. In all, they have won four ODIs in the country (in 1991, 1993, 2005, and 2024) and lost 14. Between 2005 and 2024, they had lost 10 consecutive ODIs in the country.
The West Indies will be relieved to finish with a memorable win tonight. The visitors started off the tour with a win in the T20Is but lost their way after that as they lost the rest of the two T20Is to concede the series. The slump continued as they lost the first two ODIs of the series as SL were clinical throughout. But the visitors had the best of conditions today and they flourished. So, a memorable day for WI as they have broken the drought and ended a 10-match losing streak in ODIs in Sri Lanka.
It was a bad day at the office for the Lankans but they will be mighty pleased with their series wins in both white-ball formats. SL were going through a tough phase but they have bounced back and have had a couple of fruitful months in all three formats. They defeated India in an ODI series at home after long, won a Test in England, whitewashed the Kiwis in a 2-Test series, and have come up trumps against the Windies.