Sri Lanka to make amends in Tests against Windies

By Ranjan ANANDAPPA

CRICKET: The confident Sri Lankans thriving on their recent limited overs success in Australia and the West Indians, but had a disappointing series in their recent South African tour, will try to make amends when they take on West Indies in the first of the three-Tests at the Galle International Stadium on Monday.

While the Lankans, who will try to maintain their impressive form at Test level, the Windies should try to redeem their lost prestige with their new captain Darren Sammy leading the side for the first time in a Test match.

The official Test match series against the West Indies began in 1993 in Sri Lanka, and was unfortunately hampered by rain and the three-Test series ended in a no result.

In 1996/97 the first visit by a Sri Lankan team to the West Indies led by Arjuna Ranatunga took place. The West Indians won the two Test series 1/0. Sri Lanka were unlucky not to register their first win against the home team when rain and Courtney Walsh came in between to frustrate the Sri Lankans. The Lankans in pursuit of a victory target of 269 were 189 for 3 at one stage.

In the 2001/02 series in Sri Lanka, could be described as Brian Lara’s series for his superlative batting performance and the dual he had with retired off spinner Muthiah Muralitharan. Lara scored 688 runs (178, 40, 74, 45, 221 and 130 in the three-Test series, but could not prevent his side suffering a 3-0 series defeat at the hands of the home team.

In 2003, the West Indies turned the tables in their ‘home’ series beating Sri Lanka 1/0.

In 2004-05, Sri Lanka beat West Indies 2/0 at home.

The picturesque Galle Stadium has been assisting spin bowling most of the time and the Sri Lankan skipper Sangakkara will no doubt bank on his slow bowlers that includes Rangana Herath who has fared impressively at this venue, Ajantha Mendis who failed to impress in the three-day practice game which was washed out and the ‘new find’ off-spinner Suraj Randiv.

It is interesting to see how the Lankans can fare minus their ace spinner Muralitharan after his retirement from Test cricket.

The West Indian side is a blend of youth and experience. Only Chris Gayle, Shivnerine Chandarpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Devon Smith and left-arm spinner Suleiman Benn have previously played Test matches against Sri Lanka while skipper Darren Sammy and wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh have toured the Island with the West Indies ‘A’ team and represented their country in ODIs against Sri Lanka.

The West Indies will rely on their conventional barrage of pacemen that consists the of skipper Darren Sammy, Kemer Roach and Nelon Pascal who gave glimpses of their capabilities in the recent three-day game at the SSC which was washed out by rain.

On the other hand, the Lankans will miss their main strike bowler Lasith Malinga. He has been asked not to exert himself too much due to his unusual slinging action according to reliable sources.

Besides the regular wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardena, Kaushal Silva also has been included in the squad as the number two. Forgotten paceman Suranga Lakmal who made his maiden tour to Pakistan which came under a terrorist attack in March 2009, has also been included in the squad.