Lankans poised to rewrite books in Caribbean

Elmo Rodrigopulle from the West Indies

The first Digicel Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies is nicely poised with the Lankans with their nose slightly ahead to make history and win their first Test match in the Caribbean.

Sri Lanka who made 476 for 8 declared and 240 for 7 declared, left the home team to make 437 runs for victory. At the close on the fourth day the Windies made 96 for one. They made 280 in the first innings. Bravo was on 46 and Sarwan 34.

I would not want to predict, because cricket is a funny game and a game is not over till the final ball is bowled. But as the game now stands the Lankans have the advantage. But the way the Windies set about their chase, they too would be feeling confident of rewriting cricket history and making an unimaginable 437 for victory.

AT the back of their minds, the Sri Lankans would be remembering the massive 418 that the Windies made in 2003 in Antigua to score an upset victory against the Australians.

If a Sri Lanka victory is to materialise, then off spinning sensation Muttiah Muralitheran will have to turn in another match winning effort.

Muralitheran has it in him to baffle, bemuse and lure the Windies batsmen to their demise. At the end of the fourth day, the wicket was still favouring the batsmen.

But Muralitheran with his repertoire of clever and cunning well disguised deliveries can strangle the batsmen. Chaminda Vaas, Rangana Herath and Thilina Thushara must give him good support.

When the Windies began their victory or defeat chase, the wicket showed a marked improvement and favoured the batsmen and this was evident the manner in which Dwaynne Bravo and Ronnie Sarwan were timing their strokes and batting with ease.

When the Windies walked in a second time it was mystifying to see skipper Chris Gayle not walking out as opener as he usually does. Obviously he would not have wanted to face his terminator Chaminda Vaas who has got him out many times without scoring.

In fact Gayle has made five ducks against the Lankans, mostly out to Vaas. Gayle's refusal was a psychological victory for the Lankans.

To Lanka's advantage is that the Windies batsmen would not close up the game and look for a draw.

Whatever the situation, they are known to go for their shots. They believe that the ball is meant to be hit, and hit it they will not worried of the consequences. That the Lankans failed to make the Windies follow on was just one of those things. Had that happened the game would have had a different complexion.

When play began on the fourth day at the wickets were Jerome Taylor and Darren Powell still needing to get 8 runs to make the Lankans bat again.

They obtained those runs and it was their final wicket stand of 28 that saved the blushes for their side.

The Lankans in making 240 for 7 in their second innings saw opener Malinda Warnapura continue his excellent form with 62 and Thilan Samaraweera who made zero in the first, hitting form with an unbeaten 56.

Uppermost in his minds when Jayawardena made the declaration was firstly to give his bowlers time to bowl the opponents out and make it difficult for the Windies batsmen to sniff victory.

The Lankans have 90 overs to bowl the opponents out and the Windies need 341 more for victory. So keep your fingers crossed, because a victory for the Lankans or a victory for the Windies would be history. Guyana, Tuesday

SCOREBOARD

SRI LANKA - 1ST INNINGS
476-8 dec.
WEST INDIES - 1ST INNINGS 280
SRI LANKA - 2ND INNINGS
M. Vandort c Ramdin b Gayle		 24
M. Warnapura c Ramdin b Bravo		 62
K. Sangakkara c sub b Bravo		 21
M. Jayawardene c Chanderpaul b Benn	 33
T. Samaraweera not out			 56
T. Dilshan lbw Taylor			  4
C. Vaas c Ramdin b Benn			 13
T. Thushara c Taylor b Benn		 14
P. Jayawardene not out			  5
Extras (2-b, 1-lb, 5-nb)		  8
TOTAL (for seven wickets declared)	240
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-43, 2-94, 3-133, 4-159, 
5-171, 6-192, 7-224.
BOWLING: D. Powell 9-0-33-0, J. Taylor 8-0-37-1, 
D. Bravo 14-0-54-2 (1-nb), S. Benn 13-0-59-3, C. Gayle 13-1-54-1.

WEST INDIES - 2ND INNINGS
D. Smith c Thushara b Vaas		10
D. Bravo not out			46
R. Sarwan not out			34
Extras (5-b, 1-nb)			 6
TOTAL (one wicket, 23 overs)		96
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-22.
BOWLING: C. Vaas 6-2-23-1, T. Thushara 4-1-31-0 (1-nb), 
R. Herath 7-1-19-0, M. Muralitharan 6-1-18-0.