Cricket Update: Rain Intervenes Again as Sri Lanka and West Indies Fight for the Series
The series between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 and West Indies could have been a thrilling one had the rain stayed away. But unfortunately that has not been the case so far. With 2 test matches without any result and both badly affected by rain, we are still not sure that
which of these teams has been the more dominant one so far. However, the rain could not come in the way of Chris Gayle who scored the second triple hundred of his career in the 1st test of the series and probably that had been the highlight of the
series so far.
On the morning of the 1st day of the 3rd test match of the series, the Sri Lankan captain and the hero of the 2nd test, Kumar Sangakara won the toss and elected to field 1st at the Pallekele International Cricket
Stadium. Sri Lankan team made just 1 change from the previous test match as fast bowler Dilhara Fernando made a comeback to the test team in place of Nuwan Kulasekra. Whereas, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 made 2 changes to their previous lineup. Left handed opener Devon
Smith came back in the playing eleven in place of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adrian-Barath-c42094 and the disputed off-spinner Shillingford was replaced by the fast bowler Nelon Pascal who made his test debut earlier in the year.
The rain delayed the start of the 1st session as only 15 overs could be bowled before the lunch break. The decision to bowl first by Kumar Sangakara turned out to be a good one as the tall fast bowler Suranga Lakmal took the precious wicket of
the dangerous Chris Gayle on the very first ball of the match as he was struck right in front of the wickets. But after Gayle’s early exit, Devon Smith and the impressive youngster Darren Bravo took charge of the situation and both the left-handers played
some breath-taking strokes. However, the play had to be stopped after short intervals because of bad light and rain. It is always a disadvantage for the batting team because it completely breaks the momentum and on the other hand, it gives rest to the bowlers
who come back fresh after each delay.
Bravo and Smith accumulated 115 runs in the 2nd wicket partnership between themselves before Devon Smith was dismissed by the mystery bowler, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ajantha-c42419 Mendis. Smith made a nice 55 of only a 100 balls in which he struck 7 glorious boundaries and
ably supported young Bravo. After the dismissal of Devon Smith, another left hander and the most experienced player of the West Indies, Shivnarine Chanderpaul came to the crease. He along with Bravo had taken the score to 134 for the loss of 2 wickets when
the play was stopped once again because of bad light. Bravo was not out on 63 in which he played some delightful shots including 9 fours.
On the other hand, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shivnarine-Chanderpaul-c90073 will resume his innings on 11 tomorrow. He has not performed up to his usual standards in the series as yet and he would be looking to make manse tomorrow.
Only 40 overs were bowled on day 1 and we hope that the rain stays away for the coming 4 days so that we can at-last have a result in the series as both the teams are fighting hard to gain the psychological advantage.
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