Sri Lanka defeated West Indies by 26 runs in the third and final ODI at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo and won the three-match series 2-0. The first match was washed away by rain.
Darren Sammy won the toss and chose to field hoping to restrict the home team. However, Tharanga (39) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (30) responded in style with a 54-run opening partnership. Dilshan hit two fours and a six in his 28-ball innings. Kumar Sangakkara hit a patient 75 runs from 105 balls with four fours and a six and also added 95 runs for the third wicket with Mahela Jayawardene, who chipped in with a 51-ball 44 runs.
However, once the pair departed the scoring got a bit slow and the hosts kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Some lusty hits from Angelo Matthews, who hit 36 runs off just 22 balls, took the score to a respectable 277/9 in their allotted 50 overs. For the West Indies, Suleiman Benn took 4/38 off his ten overs while Dwayne Bravo took 2/58.
West Indies got off to a horror start losing both the openers in the first two overs with nothing on the board. Darren Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan added 125 runs for the third wicket to bring back some hope. Sarwan scored 51 runs off 66 balls while Darren Bravo top-scored with 79 runs that took 91 deliveries. His innings included nine fours and a six.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (3) and Darren Sammy (3) failed with the bat and with the departure of the settled Bravo; it was all over for the visitors. Dwayne Bravo (32) and Carlton Baugh (49) fought well but could not take their team past the target. West Indies were finally all-out for 251 runs in 49 overs. For Sri Lanka, Ajantha Mendis (4/46) and Thisara Perera (3/36) were the pick of the bowlers.
Kumar Sangakkara was declared the man of the match while Upul Tharanga was declared the player of the series.