Windies head back to Sri Lanka at month end

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC – West Indies will return at the end of this month to contest three One-day Internationals.
A five-match series to be contested at three venues being inaugurated to stage World Cup matches was shelved because of heavy rain in the country last December, and the three day/night matches are to make up for this.

The newly-built Suriyawewa Stadium in the southern Hambantota district will stage the first ODI on January 31.
The Premadasa Stadium in the capital city Colombo will host the last two matches on February 4 and 6.

Both venues will stage World Cup matches, so the matches will give the two sides, as well as cricket officials a chance to test the readiness of the facilities for the cricket’s marquee limited-overs event, which begins on February 19.

Sri Lanka will co-host with India and Bangladesh, after Pakistan was eliminated from the joint arrangement due to security fears.
The Sri Lankans and Darren Sammy’s West Indies drew 0-0 in a three-Test series last year, which was badly affected by rain.