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Sri Lanka A v West Indies, 3rd match, Colombo
Sri Lanka A claim thrilling win
Sa'adi Thawfeeq
July 10, 2005
Sri Lanka A pulled off a thrilling four-wicket win, with eight balls to spare, in the third and final unofficial Test against West Indies A, at the Saravanamuttu Stadium, to clinch the three-match series 2-1.
Sri Lanka left themselves chasing a target of 218 off 43 overs after dismissing West Indies for 205 in the second innings. But their chase was stalled by rain, which lopped off four overs, making their task a little tougher than expected. However, from 93 for 2 when the interruption came, Sri Lanka did not give up the chase but kept pursuing the target despite losing wickets constantly.
Russel Arnold and Tillakaratne Dilshan lifted the spirits of the team with a 53-ball 64-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Dilshan, running fast between the wickets, made 40 off 35 balls without hitting a single boundary and Arnold contributed 39 off 34 balls. But it was left to Danushka Lokuhettige, a hard-hitting fast bowler, to steer the side to victory with a few hefty blows, in an undefeated knock of 22 off 19 balls.
West Indies, resuming on 114 for 4, struggled against the left-arm orthodox spin of Sajeewa Weerakoon. He troubled all the batsmen on a wearing pitch to pick up his third consecutive five wicket haul in the series.
Weerakoon's final figures of six for 57 off 40 overs, and eight wickets in the match, gave him a series haul of 26 wickets and he was the deciding factor between the two sides. Darren Sammy put up strong resistance, keeping one end going, batting over three hours for an unbeaten 40. But, apart from Dave Mohammed who contributed 30 in a stand of 40 for the eighth wicket, the rest of the batsmen succumbed to the wiles of Weerakoon.
West Indies won the first 'test' at Dambulla by 57 runs and Sri Lanka squared the series by winning the second at Colts ground by an innings and 16 runs The two teams now meet in a five-match one-day series starting on July 13 at the Nondescripts CC grounds.
© Cricinfo
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