West Indies miffed with the conditions in Pallekelle as wet weather stacked the deck against them in loss to Sri Lanka.
West Indies express their annoyance at the conditions of the pitches in Sri Lanka. With the hosts opting for turning pitches in the series, West Indies lost the T20 series 2-1. It prompted coach Daren Sammy to call it a “moral victory” for his side that they stayed competitive despite the odds against his side.
The first ODI at Pallekelle could not have been a bigger gut punch for the Windies. While it was another dry surface, the weather also decided to get in cahoots to make it an almighty task for Windies than it already was.
The break was not just prolonged enough to prevent Sri Lanka’s bowlers from having to bowl with a wet ball. They had been bowling in dry circumstances before to the arrival of the rain. During the second innings, the visitors also had to deal with a ball that was slippery. Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka cited as a contributing cause to his team’s triumph during the post-match presentation.
Nishan Madushka, who scored 69 runs off of 54 balls in his ODI debut and combined with Asalanka to score 137 runs to win the match, reaffirmed this after the game.
“Their bowlers were really good. But because of the rain around, I think they had trouble gripping the ball,” he said. “There was less turn on the wicket too, to be honest. But they still bowled well. “
There was merit to this point. When they had the new ball which was not dump, the Windies ripped through the Lankan top order. They picked off three wickets within 3 overs. That is when Madushka and Asalanka produced their big fourth-wicket stand.
Throughout that collaboration, the batters significantly altered the ball’s condition by hitting it beyond the boundary. Especially into wet portions of the ground and drainage regions. The West Indies bowlers took it up to the umpires at least twice, but unable to get the balls for drier ones.
Part of Sri Lanka’s strategy at 45 for 3 may have been to hang around until bowling became significantly more difficult. “What Charith aiya said was to take the game as deep as possible. To start with dragging the game to 20 or 25 overs, before we reassess,” Madushka said. “I think that positive mindset affected me positively as well, and helped me perform.”
Given that Pallekele is a notoriously rainy location for ODIs, conditions could continue to have a major factor in the result of the two remaining matches. From the standpoint of the West Indies, they have been significantly disadvantaged thus far in this visit.