AFP
Shai Hope marked his return to West Indies duty with an assured hundred in guiding his team to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first One-Day International of a three-match series at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Wednesday.
On a day when Sri Lankan opening batsman Danushka Gunathilaka became just the eighth player in more than 50 years of ODI cricket to be dismissed obstructing the field, Hope returned to his best form with an innings of 110.
It was his tenth century in this format of the game, to ensure that the tourists' total of 232 all out was overhauled comfortably.
Dropped from the West Indies team following a wretched tour of England last July, Hope's only real discomfort across 133 deliveries in which he stroked 12 fours and one six was the pace of Dushmantha Chameera, who struck the elegant batsman on the helmet when 20 runs short of three figures.
"I just had patience and trusted my ability," said Hope after receiving the Man of the Match award.
"I made sure I negated the threat they threw at us. (Wanindu) Hasaranga was the main threat and I thought we played him well."
Chameera was Sri Lanka's lone wicket-taker, eventually breaching the defence of Hope after earlier ending an opening stand of 143 when he yorked Evin Lewis, whose innings of 65 occupied 90 deliveries and was decorated with four fours and two sixes. Hasaranga bowled a miserly ten-over spell but could not get the wickets needed to keep his team in the hunt.
Earlier, Sri Lanka subsided from a promising start with Gunathilaka's demise making the headlines.
