Sri Lanka will be looking for the whitewash when they face Ireland in the second and final ODI match on Saturday at Malahide, Dublin. The Lankan Lions won the first of their two-match ODI series on Thursday by 76 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method.
On Thursday, the drizzle continued throughout the game, thus not giving fans much of an option to enjoy the match well. However, Saturday's weather forecast says there will be no rain during the match and the temperature will be hovering around 17 degrees Celsius.
Whatever the weather transpires to be, Sri Lanka will be expected to sweep this match as well. Dasun Shanaka remained a star for the Lankan Lions in the first ODI against Ireland as the 24-year-old made a stunning impact with the ball as well as the bat in his debut game itself. Shanaka scored 42 runs off 19 balls to help Sri Lanka achieve the total of 303/7 in 50 overs.
He also played his part with the ball to bag five wickets while giving away 43 runs to help restrict Ireland to 216 runs by the 41st over of their innings.
It was an all-round performance from the Lankan Lions as Dinesh Chandimal made a solid impact scoring an unbeaten century. Skipper Angelo Mathews also contributed with the bat.
For Ireland, inexperience was the cause of their defeat. William Porterfield gave a good start to their innings, scoring 73 off 88 balls and Kevin O'Brien also tried his best to play a good knock from the middle order, as he scored 64 off 49 balls. However, once the wickets started falling, the confidence of the Irish players also decreased.
Sri Lanka, the clear favourites, will look to ending their short tour of Ireland on a high note ahead of their five-match ODI series against England, scheduled for a start on June 21.
Where to watch live
Ireland vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI is scheduled for a 10:45 a.m. local time (9:45 a.m. GMT, 3:15 p.m. IST, 5:45 a.m. EST) start on June 18.
There will be no live coverage of the game in India.
Ireland - TV: Setanta Sports Ireland.
Sri Lanka - TV: CSN.
USA - TV: ESPN 3. Live streaming: Watch ESPN.