West Indies, who won the toss and opted to bowl first, failed to read the pitch properly. The wicket was good for the batsmen. Sri Lankan batters proved that scoring their highest-ever total in ODIs against West Indies as well as their highest total on the soil of England.
Avishka Fernando, the right-handed top-order batsman, led the batting line scoring a captivate century. Along the way, Avishka (20 years 86 days) became the third youngest cricketer after Paul Stirling (20 years 196 days) and Ricky Ponting (20 years 76 days) to hit a ton in the World Cup.
Avishka ended up on 104 off 103 deliveries with nine fours and two sixes. Along with him, Kusal Perera (64) and Lahiru Thirimanna (45) contributed well with the bat.
Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal were solid to set up a good opening stand. They added 93 runs in the first wicket. Relying on this foundation, free-flowing Avishka hit his first ton in ODI career.
Kusal Mendis (39) and Angelo Mathews (26) also played their parts properly to put up an above-par total on the board.
Eventually, Sri Lanka posted 338 which is now their highest total in this edition of the World Cup.
For West Indies, captain Jason Holder took two wickets while Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas and Fabian Allen bagged one wicket each.