At Sharjah, October 16. West Indies won by four runs. Toss: West Indies.

For once, Richardson chose to bat, and his team piled up 333 runs. But Sri Lanka almost trumped them with 329, their biggest limited-overs total yet. They were all out in the final over when Tillekeratne swung Cummins's third ball to mid-wicket, seeking the six which would have won the match; instead, he found Williams just inside the fence. The match aggregate of 662 for 17 was a world record, easily beating 626 for 14 in a 60-over World Cup game between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 1983. Lara scored 169 from 129 balls; he fell 21 short of beating Viv Richards's one-day international best of 189 and adding that record to the Test and first-class ones he gained in 1994. He hit 15 fours and four sixes and made nearly two-thirds of the runs added as West Indies ascended from six to 282. Chanderpaul dominated the closing stages with 62 from 45 balls. Sri Lanka set off at a terrific rate, scoring 46 for two in the first five overs. Mahanama, with a run-a-ball 76, and Kaluwitharana put on another 55 in six, but three wickets in nine balls set them back. Tillekeratne then took centre stage, reaching his hundred, which took 106 balls, just before the dramatic climax.

Man of the Match: B. C. Lara.

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