Lewis, Rutherford carry Windies to victory in final ODI

BALAGOLLA, Sri Lanka (CMC):

EVIN LEWIS blasted his fifth One-Day International century and Sherfane Rutherford scored his third successive half-century as the West Indies ended their tour of Sri Lanka on a winning note, dominating the third and final game by eight wickets yesterday.

Following a five-hour delay at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium because of persistent showers, Sri Lanka’s innings eventually ended on 156 for three from 23 overs.

The visitors then easily overhauled their Duckworth-Lewis-Stern revised target of 195 in 23 overs, finishing on 196 for two with six balls to spare, with Lewis scoring an unbeaten 102 and Rutherford an unbeaten 50.

Despite losing the three-match series 2-1, the West Indies would be heartened by their batting performance following two disappointing showings in the first two ODIs.

The win also ended an 11-match losing streak in Sri Lanka.

It was a fairy-tale ending for Player-of-the-Match Lewis, who was playing his first ODI since 2021, having replaced Alick Athanaze at the top of the order.

Needing to score at just under eight and a half runs an over, Lewis and Brandon King added 36 runs inside the first six overs to give the Windies a solid start.

King was the first to go when he picked out Kamindu Mendis at deep midwicket to be out for 16.

Lewis then dominated a 72-run partnership for the second wicket with skipper Shai Hope to keep the West Indies in the hunt for victory.

He sliced left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka over mid-off and then pummeled Janith Liyanage for another boundary between deep midwicket and long off for another four to move into the 40s.

He brought up his 11th half-century off 34 balls when he guided pacer Asitha Fernando in front of square leg for two as the visitors eased to 92 for one after 12 overs.

Madushanka broke the partnership when he had Hope caught at deep midwicket for 22 from 27 balls to leave the score 108 for two.

It would be the last taste of success for the hosts as the in-form Rutherford joined Lewis at the crease.

Sri Lanka would still have felt that they were in with a chance with the Windies needing 70 runs from the final six overs.

THREE FOURS

However, Lewis smashed Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka for three fours in the 18th over, in which Kamindu Mendis also dropped Rutherford at deep cover when he was 10.

It proved to be a costly miss, as Rutherford blasted spinner Maheesh Theekshana for two consecutive sixes and a four in the next over that yielded 18 runs.

That brought the equation down to 38 from 24 balls, and the West Indies continued their assault by gathering 10 runs from Fernando’s following over.

Rutherford then hit Madushanka for a boundary, and Lewis struck him for six to move to 95 as the Windies eased closer to victory.

The left-handed Rutherford then brought up his fourth 50 in six ODIs when he clipped Fernando through midwicket for a single, opening up the door for Lewis to end the contest in spectacular fashion by hitting the same bowler out of the ground to also bring up his century.

In all, Lewis faced 61 balls and struck nine fours and four sixes, while Rutherford hit four fours and three sixes in the 26 balls he faced.

Earlier, led by half-centuries from opener Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis and assisted by five dropped catches, Sri Lanka were on their way to posting a challenging total.

However, with the score on 81 for one at the start of the 18th over, heavy showers stopped play and threatened at one point to end the match.

Nissanka made 56, and Mendis scored an unbeaten 56 from 22 balls, but Sri Lanka were severely hampered by the reduction of overs.