West Indies thrashed All Ceylon by an innings in 1949
By Ranjan ANANDAPPA
CRICKET: The West Indies played their first unofficial three day Test
(After the formation of the Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon) in
February 1949.
It was an historic occasion for then Ceylon when the two respective
captains John Goddard (West Indies) and F.C.de Saram (Ceylon) walked out
into the centre of the Colombo Oval to toss,which the visitors won and
elected to bat first.
|
Clyde Walcolt 125 not out in West Indies first innings total
of 462 for 2 wickets against Ceylon in February 1949. |
|
Mahes Rodrigo 135 for Ceylon in second innings total of 318
all out. However, Ceylon lost the match by an innings and 22
runs. |
|
Everton Weekes 133 not out for West Indies in total of 462
for 2 wickets declared against Ceylon in February. |
|
C.I. Gunasekera made 72 in All Ceylon second innings total
of 318 |
The West Indies gave a powerful batting display with openers G. Carew
(77) and A.F. Rae (116) putting on precisely 200 runs for the first
wicket. Then Clyde Walcott (125 n.o) and Everton Weekes (133 n.o) were
involved in a 258 run stand for the third wicket as the West Indies
amassed 462 for 2 declared. The Ceylon bowlers were at the mercy of the
Windies batsmen who whipped them all over the field.
Ceylon, in their first Innings, were shot out for 122 with only R.B.
Wijesinha (28) and B.R. Heyn (22) making any impression. Paceman Prior
Jones made early inroads into the Ceylon batting capturing 4 for 39
while J. Trim took 3 for 27. Ceylon, following on with a deficit of 340
runs, gave a pleasing batting display in their second innings
spearheaded by a fighting unbeaten 135 by opener Mahes Rodrigo. His
century had ten fours and he occupied the crease for 382 minutes against
the full might of the West Indian attack. His Innings was described as
the finest fighting knock by a Ceylon batsman (This was the pre- helmet
era). Rodrigo added 117 runs for the fifth wicket with C.I. Gunasekera
(72) and gave glimpses of saving the match.But Prior Jones' blistering
pace found the edge of Gunasekera's bat and wicket-keeper Walcott took
the catch. R.L. de Krester and Mahes Rodrigo provided the entertainment
for the big crowd present with a last-wicket stand of 81 while De
Krester's contribution was 41. The trio,
Rodrigo, Gunasekera and De Krester proved that the West Indian attack
could be neutralised when they were finally out for 318 in their second
Innings.
Ceylon lost the match by an Innings and 22 runs, but was certainly
not disgraced.
The significant feature of the match was that out of the 20 wickets
which fell in the Ceylon Innings, 15 batsmen were out caught behind the
wicket,either by the wicket- keeper or in region of slips and gully
positions. (Five in the first Innings and all ten batsmen in the second
Innings)
Date: 19th, 20th, 21st February 1949.
Venue: Colombo Oval
Captains: J.D. Goddard (West Indies) and F.C.de Saram (All Ceylon).
Wicket-keepers: C.L. Walcott (West Indies) and Ben Navaratne (All
Ceylon).
Umpires: C.D. Mayo and J.K. Murray
Toss: West Indies won and batted first.
12th Man for Ceylon: C.V. Abeysekera (NCC).
SCORE BOARD
WEST INDIES 1ST INNINGS
G. Carew run out 77
A. F. Rae st. Navaratne b R.B. Wijesinha 116
C. Walcott not out 125
E. Weekes not out 133
Extras 11
Total (for 2 wkts declared) 462
Fall of wickets: 1-200, 2-204.
Did not bat: D. Atkinson, G.E. Gomez, J.D. Goddard,
R.J. Christiani, P.E. Jones, J. Trim, W. Furguson
Bowling: G.M. Spittel 24-1-75-0
R.B. Wijesinha 27-5-97-1
S. Coomaraswamy 14-2-55-0
R.L. de Krester 37-2-131-0
C.I. Gunasekera 11-0-66-0
V.G. Prins 5-0-27-0
ALL CEYLON 1ST INNINGS
M. Rodrigo b Trim 14
S. Nagendra c Walcott b Jones 17
F.C. de Saram b Goddard 9
V.G. Prins c Furguson b Jones 0
S. Coomaraswamy c Gomez b Jones 6
C.I. Gunasekera c Goddard b Jones 11
R.B. Wijesinha b Trim 28
G.M. Spittel b Trim 7
B.R. Heyn c Gomez b Furguson 22
B. Navaratne not out 5
R.L. de Krester c and b Goddard 3
Extras 0
Total 122
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-40, 3-40, 4-40, 5-51, 6-64
7-87, 8-104, 9-119, 10-122.
Bowling: Prior Jones 12-3-39-4
Gerry Gomez 16-6-28-0
J. Trim 11-2-27-3
W. Furguson 2-0-5-1
John Goddard 7.1-1-23-2
ALL CEYLON 2ND INNINGS
M. Rodrigo not out 135
S. Nagendra c Weeks b Trim 5
F.C. de Saram c Furguson b Gomez 1
V.G. Prins c Gomez b Jones 1
S. Coomaraswamy c Walcott b Goddard 35
C.I. Gunasekera c Walcott b Jones 72
R.B. Wijesinha c Gomez b Trim 10
G.M. Spittel c Goddard b Jones 0
B.R. Heyn c Walcott b Jones 0
B. Navaratne c Walcott b Jones 5
R.L. de Krester c Furguson b Jones 41
Extras 13
Total 318
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-17, 3-38, 4-112, 5-117,
6-229, 7-231, 8-237, 9-318. 10-318.
Bowling: P. Jones 14.4-4-23-6
J. Trim 18-2-44-2
W. Furguson 13-0-78-0
J. Goddard 14-0- 67-1
G.E. Gomez 36-11-71-1
R.J. Chritiani 5-0-22-0 |
