That is the end of our live coverage of the second ODI between Sri Lanka and West Indies. The hosts take an unassailable 2-0 lead in this three-match series. The 3rd ODI to be played at the same venue on 26th October. Do join us then.
For now, this is me, AkshayaKrishna Polya, signing off on behalf of my co-commentators Akshay Bhide and Pritam Dey, who, alongside our scorer/analyst Raju Khariya, brought you all the live action of this enthralling fixture. We will meet again. Until then, it's cheers!
Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka Captain): "I think it's a very good thing for us, we have a very good side and that's what we needed badly to get a winning momentum.
(On Maheesh Theekshana) Yeah he was not in the plans firstly but I wanted to play him because of the weather conditions to be honest. When we came here, we saw a lot of breeze and rain so we wanted to play Theekshana.
No I am not aware of my average at Pallekele. I am really happy with the teams performance and looking forward to the final game of the series."
Shai Hope (West Indies Captain): "I really don't want to focus on things which can't be controlled. It is a 50-50 decision.
We can control our proceedings, batting, bowling and fielding. What we can control is our performance and our processes, and today was a poor performance.
We need to focus on getting better in the powerplay. We need to negate the spin. We need to face fewer dot balls. We weren't on spot.
We didn't get enough support from the surface. We lacked a bit of revolution on the ball. We bowled too quickly. We need to take a leaf out of Sri Lanka's book about spin bowling. We need to improve on certain areas heading into the next game."
Maheesh Theekshana (Player of the Match): "Well I was not in the Playing XI initially. It was a late decision by the team due to rain and I am really happy to win a game for my team.
I think with the new ball, it's not easy to play so when the ball becomes older, it's easier to bowl. I love both the formats (ODIs and T20Is)."
Player of the Match: Maheesh Theekshana
10:39 PM IST & Local Time - Time for the Post Match Presentations.
10:32 PM IST and Local Time: As we wait for the presentation, we get news from Pallekele. Rain has started to fall, and the covers are on the ground. It started to pour down as soon as the match was over.