Fast bowlers give Windies 'A' the edge
SA'ADI Thawfeeq reporting from Dambulla
DAMBULLA, Thursday - West Indies 'A' held the edge over Sri Lanka 'A'
at the end of the second day's play of the first unofficial cricket test
after their fast bowlers had given them a useful 38-run lead on the
first innings at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium here today.
By stumps West Indies 'A' had scored 113 for three wickets in their
second innings to enjoy an overall lead of 151. Two days remain in the
match.
Guyana opener Ryan Ramdass was unbeaten on 52 scored in 140 minutes
with seven fours after Gayan Wijekoon had sent back the two top scorers
in the first innings Xavier Marshall for a second ball duck and skipper
Daren Ganga for 11. Marshall made 82 and Ganga 99 in the first innings.
Marlon Samuels added 70 for the third wicket with Ramdass but ran
himself out rather needlessly at 37.
Resuming at 68-3 in reply to West Indies 'A's total of 295, Sri Lanka
'A' were dismissed at tea for 258 falling to the pace of Jermaine
Lawson, Tino Best and Dwight Washington. The trio took eight wickets
with left-arm spinner Dave Mohammed picking up the remaining two.
After Sri Lanka 'A' spinners had grabbed eight wickets on the opening
day it looked as if the slow bowlers would dominate the match. But today
it was the West Indian pace bowlers' turn to show that if they bent
their backs there was ample reward for them.
It was the tall and rangy Lawson from Jamaica who caused a lot of
discomfort to the batsmen with his searing pace and high accuracy on a
bone dry pitch that still contained a tinge of green.
Lawson finished with four wickets for 84 off 16.4 overs but it was
Best who provided the initial breakthrough, 29 minutes into the morning
session when he had skipper Russel Arnold edging a catch behind the
wicket for five.
Malintha Gajanayake and Prasanna Jayawardene overcame the early loss
with a gritty fifth wicket stand of 73 in 81 minutes before Lawson
returning for his second spell sent them both packing to the pavilion.
Gajanayake edged to gully after scoring a stylish 44 in 138 minutes
(8 fours) and Jayawardene yorked himself at 55 made in 99 minutes with
nine fours.
It was the Sri Lanka 'A' wicket-keeper's fourth score of over fifty
in his last four innings at this level of competition. His previous
scores were 66 (n.o.), 59 and 143. In fact he has been his team's
highest scorer on each of those occasions.
Gayan Wijekoon held up the innings defending stoutly for 132 minutes
scoring 44 (6 fours, 1 six) before he was last out attempting to pull
Lawson over mid wicket and only succeeding in giving a catch to Ramdass.
WEST INDIES ‘A’ 1ST INNINGS 295
SRI LANKA ‘A’ 1ST INNINGS
(Overnight 68-3)
M.G. van Dort c Morton b Lawson 3
D.A. Gunawardena c and b Washington 34
J. Mubarak c Baugh b Mohammed 17
M.K. Gajanayake c Mohammed b Lawson ..... 44
R.P. Arnold c Baugh b Best 5
H.A.P.W. Jayawardene b Lawson 55
M.R.G. Wijekoon c Ramdass b Lawson 44
M.M.S. Mohammed b Best 16
S. Weerakoon b Best 7
C.R.D. Fernando st Baugh b Mohammed 19
R.C.R.P. Silva not out 0
Extras (b-11, lb-2, nb-1) 14
TOTAL (all out, 70.4 overs, 312 mins) 258
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-16, 2-52, 3-68, 4-81, 5-154,
6-167, 7-203, 8-225, 9-258, 10-258.
BOWLING: Best 16-5-6-1-3, Lawson 16.4-0-84-4,
Washington 7-2-16-1, Mohammed 15-3-40-2,
Samuels 4-0-17-0, Deonarine 12-3-27-0.
WEST INDIES ‘A’ 2ND INNINGS
X.M. Marshall lbw b Wijekoon 0
R. Ramdass not out 52
D. Ganga c Gajanayake b Wijekoon 11
M.N. Samuels run out 37
N. Deonarine not out 2
Extras (b-6, lb-2, nb-3) 11
TOTAL (3 wkts at close, 33 overs, 140 mins) 113
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0, 2-16, 3-86.
BOWLING: Wijekoon 8-1-24-2, Silva 5-2-9-0,
Weerakoon 7-0-28-0, Fernando 5-0-15-0 (3nb),
Mohamed 8-2-29-0.
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