Shivnarine Chanderpaul disclosed that he defied illness to hand West Indies a thrilling one-wicket victory in the first One-day International of three against Sri Lanka at Queen's Park Oval.
Chanderpaul smote the last two balls of the match for a four and a six respectively to formalise the result and give West Indies a 1-0 lead in the series which continues on Saturday at the same venue.
Chanderpaul top-scored with an undefeated 62 from 63 balls to guide West Indies to 236 for nine, chasing Sri Lanka 235 for seven from from their allocation of 50 overs on Wednesday.
"I am still suffering a bit, but I knew with God's help it could happen for us," he told the West Indies Cricket Board website.
"I have not recovered from the flu properly. I was shaking out there all day and I was feeling weak. When I went in to bat, I was trembling, and I was still struggling, but it worked out for me."
Sri Lanka looked on course for victory, when Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lanka's most experienced bowler, conceded just three runs from the first four balls of the last over with West Indies needing 13 runs.
But Chanderpaul staged a dramatic finish to send a near-capacity crowd into ecstasy, when he drove the penultimate ball for four past mid-off, and then carted a low full toss over mid-wicket for a six, just clearing Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene deliberately positioned on the boundary rope for such an eventuality.
{{/usCountry}}But Chanderpaul staged a dramatic finish to send a near-capacity crowd into ecstasy, when he drove the penultimate ball for four past mid-off, and then carted a low full toss over mid-wicket for a six, just clearing Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene deliberately positioned on the boundary rope for such an eventuality.
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