Related Links : Sri Lanka in West Indies 2007/08 : Scorecard
Shivnarine Chanderpaul stunned the cricketing world with a final ball sixer to power the West Indies to a breathtaking win in the first ODI at Port of Spain. Needing 13 to get from the last over with just the one wicket in hand, West Indies were realistically out of the match when the equation turned out to be 10 from the last two deliveries! But the sweet timing from Shivnarine Chanderpaul coupled with his incredibly cool temperament saw a straight drive for a boundary followed up by the magical hit in the crowd to clinch the match. Chaminda Vaas was the unlucky bowler to be at the receiving end.
This first ODI at the Queen’s Park Oval saw three debutants in Sulieman Benn (West Indies) along with Mahela Udawatte and Ajantha Mendis, the replacement of Muttiah Muralitharan. Windies had put SL to bat first and within an hour, it appeared as if everyone were in for a short duration as the visitors had a disastrous start. Sri Lanka found themselves in a hopeless situation of 49 for 5. But an unbelievably good recovery from Chamara Silva and Chamara Kapugedera brought some normalcy to the proceedings. Chamara Silva scored 67 from 96 with 7 fours to take Sri Lanka into the slogs at a competitive score. He added 159 runs along with the exciting Kapugedera, who stayed almost till the end. Unfortunately, Kapugedera missed out on a maiden hundred by just five runs. His 95 had come with 7 fours and 3 sixes and took 117 balls to help SL post a healthy 235 for 7.
The wrecker-in-chief among the bowlers was Dwayne Bravo with his 10-1-32-4. Sri Lanka deserved a victory after that incredible recovery. But after a solid opening stand between Gayle and Devon Smith, the target of 236 looked to be just too moderate. Both the West Indian left handers put on 53 before Nuwan Kulasekara got one to skid and keep low to get Devon Smith lbw. Smith made just 14 facing 31 balls out of the 53 that were put on the board. West Indies then consolidated through Gayle and Sarwan at a steady rate. Drama unfolded once off spinner got rid of Gayle (52 from 81 with 8 fours and a six) and then Kulasekara sending back Sarwan (35 from 54 with 4 fours). Marlon Samuels fell for a first ball duck and Sri Lanka with that bounced back tremendously. Kulasekara had taken two wickets in an over and the three wickets of Gayle, Sarwan and Samuels fell in the space of seven balls leaving WI at 110 for 4 in 28 overs.
The West Indies clawed their way back through the partnership between Chanderpaul and Bravo under a bit of drizzle. Both were looking good and it was important that there wasn’t any loss of a wicket at that stage keeping in mind of the possible rain interruption and the Duckworth Lewis. The match took a twist when a misunderstanding between the two batsmen saw both of them at one end. Bravo (36 from 37 with 3 fours and 2 sixes) sacrificed his wicket and West Indies were back in trouble at 169 for 6 in the 39th over. Sri Lanka after taking that wicket got grip of the game as they removed the tail enders quickly. However, Chanderpaul kept his end intact and towards the end clinched the match in an amazing fashion with just the last man in. Chanderpaul got 62 from 63 with 5 fours and a six but it was Dwayne Bravo taking the Man of the Match award for his all-round show. For Sri Lanka, Nuwan Kulasekara got 3 for 43 in his 10 and Ajantha Mendis impressed with his 3 for 39 in 10 overs.