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Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 1-wicket to take a 1-0 lead in the series

The West Indian side fought a great fight to keep the Lankans from winning.

If the first ODI between Sri Lanka and West Indies had to be boiled down to one game-changer, it would be Ajantha Mendis. The close match, tempered by rain disturbances, was the perfect match to portray the excitement of ODI cricket to critics who believe that ODI matches are unexciting and drab when compared to T20s.

Dilshan started off very well, with the match looking to begin with an advantage to the Lankans. But after his dismissal, things began to quickly fall apart. From the side of the Windies, Narin and Carter did a great job, but they were never at a position to put the Sri Lankans at a disadvantage.

Just when it looked like West Indies was out from the reckoning, Jonathan Carter’s dismissal of Suchitra Senanayake and Lasith Malinga off successive deliveries brought the Windies back into the contest.

Sunil Narine turned the game around earlier by dismissing Milinda Siriwardana and the two debutants - Shehan Jayasuriya and Danushka Gunathilaka. And he did it in the same over in his comeback ODI. Towards the end, the game became even more exciting – the hosts needed 31 off 47 balls. That seems doable, until you factor in that five of their top order batsmen were down already.

Credit must be given to Andre Russell and Jason Holder for two knocks that will be replayed over and over again for their sheer entertainment quotient.

"It was a lucky escape. We made a real mess towards the end," Mendis said in the post-match presentation, but what matters is who won, so Angelo Mathews won’t be seen complaining.

The two teams have offered a flying start to a series that seem promising and exciting. 

 

 

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