Sri Lanka trounce West Indies in opener

After Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga had put West Indies into bat, Brian Lara (80) and Carl Hopper (68) provided West Indies innings the needed fillip. The Caribbeans lost six wickets with the addition of 65 runs, finishing with 237-8.

A disappointingly small crowd watched the first encounter of the tournament which is being organised to mark the golden jubilee of Pakistan’s Independence.

Sri Lanka had an unusual slow start with the 50 coming up in the 13th over but they were never in trouble. Maravan Atapattu (1) and Sanat Jayasuriya (24) were back with the total at 56. Aravinda de Silva hit three consecutive fours off Franklyn Rose before falling for 13.

Captain Arjuna Ranatunga and Roshan Mahanama steadied the run-chase. They joined at 69 for three and completed the hundred of their partnership in 108 balls as both played with consummate authority. Mahanama consumed 77 balls for his fifty, hitting a four and a six while Ranatunga’s 50 came off 61 balls and had two boundaries.

Earlier in the day the West Indies lost their first wicket in the third over with opener Stuart Williams departing after making only five.

Lara added 82 runs for the second wicket with Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Scoreboard

West Indies: S Williams c Ranatunga b Vaas 5, S Chanderpaul lbw b A de Silva 42, B Lara b Jayasuriya 80, C Hooper c L de Silva b S de silva 68, P Simmons c Muralitharan b Vaas 20, C Ambrose not out 4, F Rose run out 1, R Holder run out 2, D Williams b S De silva 2; Extras: (lb5, nb4, w4) 13.

Total: (for eight wickets in 50 overs) 237

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-98, 3-172, 4-221, 5-228, 6-229, 7-232, 8-237.

Bowling: Vaas 10-0-35-2 (2nb, 1w); S de Silva 10-2-31-2 (1nb, 3w); Dharmasena 10-0-55-0; Muralitharan 6-0-46-0; Jayasuriya 8-0-33-1; A de silva 6-0-32-1.

Sri Lanka: S Jayasuriya c Lewis b Hooper 24, M Ataputtu c Hooper b Walsh 1, R Mahanama not out 94, A de Silva c Chanderpaul b Rose 13, A Ranatunga not out 87; Extras: (lb4, w9, nb8) 21.

Total (for three wickets, 39.4 overs) 240

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-56, 3-69

Bowling: Ambrose 8-0-52-0 (4nb, 2w); Walsh 9-1-41-1 (4nb); Hooper 8-0-31-1 (1w); Rose 7-0-64-1 (4w); Lewis 5-0-24-0; Simmons 2.4-0-24-0 (2w)

Result: Sri Lanka won by seven wickets

Man-of-the-Match: Arjuna Ranatunga

Umpires: Salim Badar & Javed Akhtar; TV replays: Said Shah (all Pakistan)

Match Referee: Ahmed Ebrahim (Zimbabwe).