Twitter Reactions: Spirited Windies go down fighting to Lion-hearted Lankans in Chester-le-Street

Like their match versus New Zealand, the Windies were dead and buried at the half-way mark of their run-chase even against Sri Lanka in Chester-le-Street. Last time around, Jason Holder & Co fell short as Carlos Brathwaite’s ton went in vain. And on this occasion, it was Nicholas Pooran, whose century couldn’t take the Caribbeans over the line as Lanka won the game by 23 runs at the Riverside Ground.

After being put in to bat first, the Sri Lankans amassed 338 in 50 overs. Dimuth Karunaratne (32) and Kusal Perera (64) put on 93 for the first wicket to put their team on the driver’s seat. Jason Holder nipped out Karunaratne to separate the duo. Three overs later, Perera was run out and all of a sudden, two new batsmen- Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando- were in the middle. The pressure was back on Lanka.

But they got momentum back into the inning with an 85-run partnership. Fernando went on to notch his maiden international century off 100 balls to keep the Windies at bay. Mendis also chipped in with a handy 39 off 41. A couple of cameos from Angelo Mathews (26) and Lahiru Thirimanne (45) propelled the score beyond 300. For the Caribbean team, Holder was the most successful with a couple of wickets.

Pooran and Allen try valiantly

Yet another time, the Windies got off to a horrendous start as Lasith Malinga removed Sunil Ambris and Shai Hope in no time. Chris Gayle (35) tried to break free but fell prey to Kasun Rajitha. Shimron Hetmyer (29) had a brain explosion and a direct hit from Dhananjaya de Silva led to his dismissal. Jason Holder went for 26 after which Carlos Brathwaite was unluckily run-out at the non-striker’s end.

However, Nicholas Pooran and Fabian Allen had other ideas. The duo started wrecking havoc with 139 runs needed off 93 balls. Pooran got to his fifty off 57 balls and looked calm to go big. Allen was also looking good, scoring 51 and he was eventually run-out. The onus was then on Pooran to take his team home.

With 31 runs needed in three overs, Angelo Mathews came in to bowl for the first time since December 2017 and picked up Pooran (118) on his very first delivery. That dismissal literally dashed Windies’ hopes one final time. With the triumph, Lanka hold on to their slim chance of qualifying for the semi-final.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Sri Lanka’s amazing victory: