West Indies' bowlers fought hard to make a match of it, but Sri Lanka held its nerve to cross the line with seven balls remaining in a thrilling truncated first One-Day International at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday (November 1).

Asked to bat, West Indies rode on a 58-run partnership between Andre Russell (41) and Darren Bravo (3, and a late blitz of 36 off 13 balls from Jason Holder, the captain, to post 159 for 8 after rain forced the match to be reduced to 26 overs-a-side.

Set a revised target of 163, Sri Lanka began superbly, Tillakaratne Dilshan laying the platform with 59 off 32 balls. But West Indies bounced back, reducing Sri Lanka from 104 for 2 to 152 for 9. Ajantha Mendis then smashed a 20-ball 21 not out to take the host to 164 for 9 in 24.5 overs for a one-wicket win via the Duckworth-Lewis method.

full article and scorecard at ICCcricket