Kusal Mendis stars in Sri Lanka's clinical win

Kusal Mendis's return to captaincy got off to the perfect start as he starred in Sri Lanka's comfortable win in the opening ODI of the West Indies tour. Mendis smashed 72 off just 62 balls and contributions from opener Pathum Nissanka and the middle order helped Sri Lanka surpass the 300-run mark. In the run chase, West Indies fell short by 41 runs with only skipper Shai Hope going past fifty.

West Indies should have made the perfect start when Nissanka hit one straight to cover where it was dropped by Keacy Carty. Kamindu Mendis, opening the innings, got the first boundary of the game but didn't last long as he became the first victim of the day. Kusal, who took 8 balls to get off the mark, finally smashed one over cow corner to get some momentum into his innings whereas Nissanka was motoring along at the other end.

Kusal then took a liking to Gudakesh Motie's bowling further as he smashed him for a six and followed it up with 6,4,6 in another over to send the left-arm spinner out of the attack. That assault finally pushed Sri Lanka's run rate past five after 20 overs and also helped Kusal reach his fifty before Nissanka did. The two batters then continued to keep the hosts at bay and gave Sri Lanka the ideal platform to push further. At the halfway mark, the visitors were 145/1. Matthew Forde finally ended the massive stand with Kusal getting a top edge. That wicket gave WI an opening to slip in a few quiet overs.

Nissanka eventually departed for 79 and Pavan Rathnayake made a scratchy 24. Sri Lanka were 218/3 heading into the final 10 overs and the duo of Charith Asalanka and Janith Liyanage gave them the ideal finish. Asalanka finished with 45 whereas Liyanage made an unbeaten 44 to help the visitors with 303. The home side then came out all guns blazing in the run chase. John Campbell flicked the second ball of the innings for a six and Justin Greaves also got going with a couple of boundaries. Greaves then hammered Asitha Fernando for a six and a four off successive balls as WI raced to 50/0 after just 6 overs. Against the run of play, it was a run out that broke the opening stand and brought Sri Lanka back into the contest.

Maheesh Theekshana then cut short Greaves' promising innings as Sri Lanka finally managed to apply the brakes on the scoring rate. While Hope and Carty steadied the ship for a brief period, the latter's dismissal was another blow for a side that needed a huge partnership to challenge Sri Lanka's total.

Sherfane Rutherford failed to make an impact and was sent packing by Wanindu Hasaranga and Hope himself couldn't kick on after scoring a fifty. His dismissal left WI hanging at 167/5 and from thereon the writing was on the wall. Roston Chase and Motie managed to drag the game further but their dismissals in the space of five deliveries was the final nail in the coffin. Chameera added a couple of lower order scalps to finish with a four-fer as WI got bowled out in the final over of the contest.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 303/7 in 50 overs (Pathum Nissanka 79, Kusal Mendis 72; Matthew Forde 2-44) beat West Indies 262 in 49.2 overs (Shai Hope 56; Dushmantha Chameera 4-67, Maheesh Theekshana 2-26) by 41 runs