Cricket Update: Sri Lanka vs. West Indies
Although the first Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies was also interrupted by rain, the second test was completely dominated by the weather and at the end of the fifth day, the track was nothing more than “dead-rubber” at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
At the close of play on day three, Sri Lanka was in a dominant position and could have won the Test match, had the rain stayed away. West Indies was struggling at 165 for the loss of five wickets, in its first innings with the last recognized batting pair on the crease. The fourth day of the match was completely washed-out and with that the chances of a result, in the Test, seemed highly unlikely. Dwayne Bravo and Carlton Bough resumed their innings on day five. West Indian hopes were depending on this pair in order to play a respectable draw. The pair developed a partnership of 44 runs between themselves before Bravo got stumped of the bowling of, left-arm spinner, Rangana Herath. He made 20 with the help of two fours and a six.
Wicket-keeper Carlton Bough, who has been drafted into the team in place of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Denesh-Ramdin-c53549, batted responsibly and scored a half-century while batting with the tail. Because of a responsible cameo by Bough, West Indies managed to score 243 runs in the first innings, conceding a lead of 140 runs to Sri Lanka. Left-arm orthodox spinner, Herath was the pick of the bowlers as he took three wickets for 76 runs. The debutant Lakmal, Mendis and Dilshan took two wickets each and helped Sri Lanka to have an upper-hand in the match. In its second innings, Sri Lanka batted only for 15 overs and scored 57 runs for the loss of Dilshan. Paranavitana was not-out on 20 and Sangakara was batting on one, when Sri Lanka decided to declare their second innings.
West Indies faced 11 overs before the close of play and faced a slight scare, when they lost the in-form Chris Gayle and Adrian Barath, in a hurry. Chris Gayle was caught in the first slip by Mahela Jayawardene, of the bowling of, Tilekaratne Dilshan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, as they had the upper-hand throughout the Test match.
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