Vishmi Gunaratne, spinners star as Sri Lanka claim series 2-0
Sri Lanka Women took a 2-0 lead with another tight victory over the West Indies at St George's on Sunday (February 22).
The second ODI carried a script similar to the first game: West Indies chasing a sub-250 total, an exact 50 by Jannillea Glasgow from No.7, and a narrow win for Sri Lanka.
The West Indies, who fell short by 10 runs in pursuit of 241 in the first ODI, had a smaller total to chase this time, bundling out the tourists for 208. At 166-4 in the 36th over, Sri Lanka looked set for much more, but lost their way, even as Vishmi Gunaratne kept one end occupied with a fighting fifty.
In response, West Indies, just like in the first ODI, had their top five sent back inside 100, leaving the lower order to push them close to the finish.
The talking point, though, was Deandra Dottin's dismissal, out obstructing the field.
The incident occurred in the 30th over, with West Indies needing 94 at that point. Facing Chamari Athapaththu, Dottin went for a sweep, but missed the wide ball. It ricocheted off the keeper's pads and flew back towards Dottin, who bizarrely tapped the ball with her bat and caught it with one hand. The Sri Lanka fielders went up in appeal straight away, claiming obstruction.
After consultation between the umpires and a referral upstairs, Dottin was given out. Next over, Aaliyah Alleyne was caught at backward point, pushing West Indies further into trouble.
But Glasgow stayed put, briefly finding company in Shawnisha Hector, but the partnership was broken by a brilliant diving catch in the deep by Nilakshika Silva, falling inches from the boundary.
Glasgow kept finding boundaries, targeting the area down the ground, forging a crucial stand with Afy Fletcher for the ninth wicket. With 18 needed off 22 though, Fletcher perished trying to take on Inoka Ranaweera, succumbing to another sharp catch by the Sri Lankans.
Even as she ran out of partners, Glasgow kept them in the hunt. However, off the last ball of the 48th over, her resistance ended, slapping one straight to cover, where Kavisha Dilhari took a fine catch on the second attempt. Glasgow crouched in despair, held up by her bat and consoled by Ramharack, even as the Sri Lankan fielders around celebrated the series win.
Sugandika Kumari took a three-wicket haul, as did Ranaweera, adding to her four wickets in the first game.
It's the second bilateral ODI series win in a row for Sri Lanka over West Indies, having broken a streak of four straight series defeats to them until 2024.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 208 all out in 47.1 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 58, Harshitha Samarawickrama 35; Karishma Ramharackh 3-26) beat West Indies 194 in 48 overs (Jannillea Glasgow 50, Sugandika Kumari 3-38, Inoka Ranaweera 3-44) by 14 runs.
