Sri Lanka defeat West Indies by 19 runs in rain-interrupted match; win the series 3-0

Kusal Perera helped Sri Lanka beat West Indies in the rain-curtailed 3rd ODI.

Sri Lanka completed a clean sweep of the West Indies in their home series by defeating them in the 3^rd and final ODI in what was a match interrupted by rain. In the end, the Duckworth Lewis method was needed to decide the outcome, which saw the hosts winning the game by 19 runs.

The Lankans won the toss at the Pallekele Stadium and decided to field. Fletcher and Charles opened for West Indies and the latter looked to start aggresively, hitting a boundary off Malinga in the first over itself. The fast-bowler though, didn't take long to hit back and dismissed the opener one ball later itself, making him spoon a simple catch to Dilshan.

The other opener Fletcher could not do much either and his unconvincing innings came to a halt when he was caught in front. The rain came pouring down just then and stopped the match for the first time.

After play had been stopped for some time, the umpires completed their inspection of the pitch and deemed it good enough for the game to resume. The match was reduced to 36 overs an innings as about an hour's time was lost out due to the rain. Malinga and Lakmal picked up one wicket each soon after the match resumed, dismissing Blackwood and Bravo respectively.

Marlon Samuels walked in and held out on his own and stayed till the end of the innings, scoring a beautiful ton while no other West Indies player could impress. Barring Holder (19) and Brathwaite (18), no other player could even get to double figures. Samuels hit 15 fours and a six and got to his century in the 34th over, ending up with 110 runs in what was an outstanding performance that would have given something to the Windies fans to cheer about.

The away side scored 206/9 in 36 overs but the target for Sri Lanka got reduced to 190 after the Duckworth-Lewis was applied following a rain delay for the second time. Malinga, Lakmal, Chameera and Mendis each picked up 2 wickets for the home team in what was a balanced bowling performance.

The Lankan Lions started their innings comfortably and walked into the game knowing they had an easy target to chase. The first one to go was Dilshan after having made 21 runs as he gave a catch to Carter. Interestingly, this was the second time in successive deliveries that he had given Carter a chance to dismiss him. The West Indian couldn't take the first chance but made up for it on the second ball.

Perera scored a well-made half-century as Sri Lanka got to 180/5 in 32.3 overs when rain stopped play again. The match was decided in the end by the D/L method and Sri Lanka were declared winners by 19 runs and deservedly so.