The 1st match of the 3 match One Day International series between Sri Lankan team and West Indies was held on February 22, Saturday at SSC, in Colombo. Sri Lankan team was led by batsman Karunaratne, and Kieron Pollard was West Indies' team captain. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first.
West Indies opener failed to give a positive start to the team and could make merely 10 runs for 1st wicket. But Darren Bravo and Shai Hope balanced the inning and made a partnership of 77 runs for the 2nd wicket. West Indies batsmen played good cricket and made a total of 289 runs in their 50 over. Shai Hope scored a century and made 115 runs while Bravo and Chase also scored 39 and 41 runs respectively. K Paul finished the innings and made not out 32 runs in just 17 balls. I Udana took the most 3 wickets for Sri Lankan team.
On chasing 290, Sri Lankan openers gave brilliant start to the team and made a partnership of 111 runs for 1st wicket. Both the openers Fernando and Karunaratne scored half-centuries. Kushal Parera also scored 42 runs. Sri Lankan middle-order collapsed badly, but De Silva fought back for his team and made not out 42 runs for the team and won the first game of the series for the team.
Sri Lanka won the match by just 1 wicket. West Indies seam Bowler A. Joseph took the most 3 wickets while K Paul and Walsh took 2 wickets each. It was a close match, and both the teams gave their best to finish the match on their side. De Silva was selected for the player of the match award for his match-winning inning. Sri Lanka took an early lead in the series, and the captain congratulated the team and looked happy.