The first contest of the World Cup where the result won’t matter to both the teams as both have been eliminated from the World Cup.
Sri Lanka lost to South Africa gave England a chance to go through, and they did it by beating India in Birmingham, shutting the doors for Sri Lanka of reaching the semis. Sri Lankan team is inexperienced in both batting and bowling, which was visible in the tournament.
They somehow managed to beat England, the only strong opponent. Sri Lanka got two crucial points because of rain, against Bangladesh and Pakistan. Had it not washed out, there were high chances of these two teams beating them.
West Indies has a fantabulous start to the tournament when they beat Pakistan in their opening game. But since then they played like a novice.
Throwing away wickets in a crucial stage of the match, bowling only short balls to batsmen, with no plan B had eliminated them from World Cup. They are themselves to be blamed for their pathetic performance in this World Cup.
Players to watch out
Malinga, playing his last world cup and everyone would be hoping to see some magic before he retires from international cricket. The joy of watching Malinga bowling toe-crushing yorkers is one of the best cricketing sights in the World.
Chirs Gayle has announced that he will retire after the home series against India, but it is up to the selectors whether they pick him or not for test and ODI series against India. Our last chance to see Malinga v Gayle in an international format.
Sri Lanka v West Indies in ODIs:
Overall: Matches 57, Sri Lanka Won 26, West Indies Won 28, No Result 3
World Cup: Matches 6, Sri Lanka Won 2, West Indies Won 4
Recent Form (most recent first): Sri Lanka L W L NR NR, West Indies L L L L NR
ICC Rankings: Sri Lanka (8), West Indies (9)
Upcoming Records:
Lasith Malinga (51) needs five more wickets to become the third highest wicket-taker in World Cup history. The top three are McGrath (71), Murali (68) and Akram (55).
Squads:
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Avishka Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera (wk), Thisara Perera, Nuwan Pradeep, Dhananjaya de Silva, Milinda Siriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay.
West Indies: Jason Holder (capt), Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wk), Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas.
