Samuels ton in vain as Sri Lanka sweep ODI series

(Reuters) – Marlon Samuels’ unbeaten century proved in vain as Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 19 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method to complete a 3-0 one-day series whitewash on Saturday.

Beaten in the two-test series and defeated in the previous two one-dayers, West Indies continued to struggle after being asked to bat first in a third and final match interrupted by rain at the Pallekele International Stadium.

Samuels (110 not out) struck his ninth ODI century and contributed more than half of the total as West Indies posted 206 for nine after the game was reduced to 36 overs per side.

Opener Kusal Perera then top-scored with a breezy 50 and captain Angelo Mathews made 27 not out as Sri Lanka reached 180 for five in the 33rd over when bad weather intervened for the last time.

Earlier, Samuels rescued West Indies after they had slumped to 18 for four inside six overs.

Lasith Malinga struck twice to dismiss opener Johnson Charles and Jermaine Blackwood and the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Samuels hit 15 fours and a six in his 95-ball blitz and the second highest contribution in the innings came in the form of 22 extras.

With wickets tumbling at the other end, Samuels decided to counter-attack, hitting Suranga Lakmal for three successive boundaries in an over.

He meted out the same treatment to Malinga after a second rain intervention but ultimately it was a below-par total for West Indies.

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty; Editing by Tony Jimenez)