Lankans take major honours in drawn game

by Chris DHAMBARAGE

CRICKET: The rain affected second Test match between Sri Lanka and the West Indies ended in a tame draw at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.

Even then the Sri Lankans were able to take major honours as they reduced the West Indies to 12 for 2 in the second innings while chasing a victory target of 202 runs from 22 overs.

Out of them only eleven overs were possible when bad light again halted play early with the West Indies struggling on 12 for 2 having lost both openers Chris Gayle and Adrian Barath cheaply.

As a result Sri Lanka certainly obtained a slight psychological advantage over their opponents before going into the third and deciding Test match which begins on December 1 at the Pallekelle International Stadium.

Earlier Sri Lanka captured the last five West Indies wickets in less than two hours but not before Carlton Baugh had compiled a fighting half century for the visitors that helped them to avert the follow on mark.

The diminutive wicket keeper batsman of course went through some anxious moments during his innings and Ajantha Mendis' first delivery spun back sharply to strike Carlton Baugh on the pads in front of the stumps.

The batsman was given out leg before wicket but a review - taken almost immediately by Carlton Baugh, showed the leg break to be pitching outside leg stump and the standing umpire's decision was overturned for the first time in the series.

Baugh went on to hit a solid fifty from 101 deliveries inclusive of six boundaries and was ninth out with the total at 240. Left arm spinner Rangana Herath did most of the damage while claiming the wickets of Dwayne Bravo, Carlton Baugh and Sulieman Benn.

Sri Lanka with a first innings lead of 144 runs went on to declare their second innings at 57 for 1 having batted for just over one hour. They applied a great amount of pressure on the West Indies openers and came out on top with Tillekeratne Dilshan and Ajantha Mendis capturing a wicket each.

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara was named Man of the Match for his magnificent 150 in the first innings that helped his team reach a commanding 387 for 9.

	SCORE BOARD
SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS 387-9 decl. 

				WEST INDIES1ST INNIGNS

C. Gayle c Mathews b Lakmal 		 30
A. Barath lbw b Kulasekara 		 03
Darren Bravo c Herath b Dilshan 	 80
S. Chanderpaul lbw b Mendis 		 08
B. Nash lbw b Dilshan 			 29
Dwayne Bravo st P. Jayawardene b Herath  20
C. Baugh b Herath 			 50
D. Sammy c Mathews b Lakmal 		 02
S. Benn c Paranavitana b Herath 	 00
S. Shillingford not out 		 05
K. Roach b Mendis 			 03
Extras (lb5, nb8) 			 13
Total (for all out; 71.3 overs) 	243
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-51, 3-77, 4-160, 5-161, 6-205, 7-208, 8-209, 
		9-240, 10-243.
Bowling: Mendis 16.3-1-56-2 (nb3), Lakmal 16-1-84-2 (nb5), Kulasekara 11-5-17-1, 
	Herath 23-3-76-3, Mathews 3-2-1-0, Dilshan 2-0-4-2.
SRI LANKA 2ND INNINGS

T. Paranavitana not out 		 20
T. Dilshan c Baugh b Dwayne Bravo 	 26
K. Sangakkara not out 			 01
Extras (b5, lb4, w1) 			 10
Total (for one wkts decl;15 overs)	 57
Fall of wicket: 1-55.
Bowling: Roach 5-0-15-0, Sammy 4-1-16-0, Dwayne Bravo 4-1-8-1 (w1), Benn 
		2-0-9-0.


WEST INDIES 2ND INNINGS

C. Gayle c M. Jayawardene b Dilshan 	03
A. Barath lbw b Mendis 			08
Darren Bravo not out 			00
S. Chanderpaul not out 			00
Extras (nb1) 				01
Total (for two wkts, 11 overs) 		12
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-11.
Bowling: Lakmal 2-0-7-0, Dilshan 5-2-4-1, Mendis 3-2-1-1, Herath 1-1-0-0.