Win, fifty for Karunaratne on ODI captaincy debut

Sri Lanka's top order came good as they sealed a 35-run win (DLS) against Scotland in a rain-hit second one-day international, taking the series 1-0 at the Grange, Edinburgh, on Tuesday, 21 May.

Openers Avishka Fernando and Dimuth Karunaratne, the captain, made half-centuries in posting an opening stand of 123, before Kusal Mendis pitched in with a half-century from No.3. Lahiru Thirimanne was accompanied by the lower order in adding quick runs at the death, lifting the score to a strong 322/8 in 50 overs.

After a rain break, Scotland were set a revised target of 235 from 34 overs, which meant they needed 103 from seven overs at that point. George Munsey gave it a good go, but the hosts fell short, bowled out for 199 as Nuwan Pradeep took four wickets.

Scotland put Sri Lanka in, but despite some disciplined lines from Brad Wheal (3/49), whose first five overs went for just 12 runs, they steadily accumulated. Michael Leask got the breakthrough in the 23rd over, in his first ball, with Fernando caught in the deep for a brisk 74 off 78 balls. His knock included three sixes.

Karunaratne, in his first match as ODI captain and his first ODI since 2015 – the opening game of the series had been washed out – led from the front and combined with Mendis to take the team past 200 in the 33rd over before falling for a well-made 77.

Mendis was the aggressor, striking a couple of sixes as he neared his fifty, and adding another to his tally before he was cleaned up by a yorker from Shafiyaan Sharif for 66 off 56 balls.

A middle-order wobble threatened to undo the good work from the start, but a few big overs at the death, with all of Jeevan Mendis, Isuru Udana and Suranga Lakmal clearing the ropes, gave the total a boost.

Matthew Cross and Kyle Coetzer regularly found the boundaries, getting the chase off to a decent start with an opening stand of 51. Pradeep recovered from going for some runs early on to send back Coetzer and the dangerous Calum MacLeod back in consecutive overs.

The visitors were on top after 27 overs, having kept Scotland to 132/7 and behind the DLS score when rain affected play. When the action resumed, the hosts were left with a tall ask. Munsey smashed three sixes in an entertaining 42-ball 61, but it wasn't enough. 

Sri Lanka 322 for 8 (Avishka 74, Karunaratne 77, Kusal Mendis 66, Wheal 3-49) beat Scotland 199 (Cross 55, Munsey 61, Pradeep 4-34)