Published: Nov 16, 2016, 09:35 AM (IST)
Edited: Nov 16, 2016, 08:17 PM (IST)
Good Afternoon, Goeie Middag, සුභ සන්ධ්යාවක්! Hello and Welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of the second One-Day International (ODI) between Sri Lanka and West Indies, of the tri-nation series 2016, at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday. We will be bringing to you all the live updates from this thrilling encounter. Sri LAnka are high on confidence after winning the first game against the hosts Zimbabwe and will look to continue their good run against the West Indies as well. They have a well-balanced side and will look to gain a lead by defeating the low on confidence West Indies. The latter on the other hand have had a torrid time against Pakistan in the UAE and will look for resurrection of fortunes in the crucial encounter. Full Cricket Scorecard: Sri Lanka vs West Indies, tri-nation series, 2nd ODI at Harare
West Indies have some match-winning players in the side and can well create an upset on any given day. Sri Lanka have been in Zimbabwe for quite some time as a result of which their players have got used to the conditions while West Indies will be playing their first game on this soil. West Indies were whitewashed by Pakistan in the ODI and T20I series but but avoided a similar result in the Test by signing off the series on a winning note. They will look for resurrection fo fortunes in the shorter format and this could be the ideal platform for them to do so. One can expect some intense action as both the teams have explosive batting in their line up.
“I think it is a situation where we need to come together as a team. We’ve struggled in the last few one-day series in terms of batting the 50 overs and that is one area we have addressed,” Holder said ahead of his side’s first game on Wednesday.
“In terms of the bowling, we need to be a lot better in the first power-play and then we have to close in the last 10 overs. Those are the significant areas we have paid some attention to.”
“I think once we do that and we string some big partnerships (together) – in the past I think we have found ourselves getting a lot of starts but not carrying on – we leave less for the middle and lower order to do,” he added.
“It’s going to be tough. Obviously they are two good teams. Sri Lanka play good cricket and obviously are of a higher rank than us and Zimbabwe have a point to prove,” the all-rounder explained.
“They are playing in their backyard as well so they will be (familiar) with their conditions. It’s a situation where we have to assess as early as possible and go out and play some good aggressive cricket.”
“We had a good week in Potchefstroom. I thought the guys had a few days off to catch themselves and recuperate after the long series in Dubai,” he said. “It’s just a situation where we got what we wanted out of the training camp and moving into the (tri-series) I think we are much better prepared.”
(With inputs from IANS)
Squads:
Sri Lanka: Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Mendis, Upul Tharanga (c), Shehan Jayasuriya, Asela Gunaratne, Sachith Pathirana, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dasun Shanaka, Lahiru Kumara, Lakshan Sandakan, Jeffrey Vandersay.
West Indies: Jason Holder (c), Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Kraigg Brathwaite, Jason Mohammed, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Shannon Gabriel, Shai Hope, Miguel Cummins, Evin Lewis, Devendra Bishoo, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell, Shane Dowrich (wk).
Time: 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT | 13:00 IST
