Lankans lose a cue with Braithwaite mystics
A six wicket haul by part time off spinner Kraigg Braithwaite rekindled the hopes of a West Indian win when the visitors ended the day at 20 for 1 looking for 244 runs to win at the end of the third day of their second Test against Sri Lanka at the P. Saa Oval yesterday.
A rash miscue by the Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews gave the visitors a glimpse of a chance of a victory - Pix by Amila Gamage
Just before the rains brought a halt to the proceedings, medium pacer Dhammika Prasad trapped Kraigg Braithwaite for 3. At the other end the other opener Shai Hope was not out 17. Play was called off by 3.30pm. Play will resume at 9.45am today.
Meanwhile the Lankans also have another drawback, as they are left with only one more review left.In reality the 224 runs needed to make with nine wickets in hand would take some effort, but, certainly the Lankans could have come up with a better show with the bat.
Though the West Indians generally preferred the usage of faster stuff, the Lankan second inning was full of spinners. If it was Warrican in the first inning, it was off spinner Braithwaite – a most unlikely counterpart who took the cue in the second inning.
Prior to this six wicket haul yesterday, Braithwaite only had taken three previous first class wickets which included one Test scalp.
Honestly, it was not the most conducive conditions for batting. It certainly gave more assistance for the slower operator, but, one also could ask the question if the Lankans had the correct approach.
Certainly it is considered that the Lankans are more apt in facing spin bowling than the fast, especially when it comes to playing at home.Beginning the third day’s proceedings on cloudy conditions, the Lankans were soon in trouble. Kaushal Silva who looked determined through the latter parts of the second day’s proceedings, fell victim to left arm spinner Warrican nineteen minutes into the game when he was held by Jermaine Blackwood in the slips for 32.
However the next wicket of Jerome Taylor — a catch completed by wicket-keeper Ramdin to dismiss Chandimal was a bigger loss. The loss thus mounted more pressure on Mathews and company.Skipper Mathews who joined southpaw Milinda Siriwardana steadied the ship somewhat with a 68 run stand for the fifth wicket, but, on 42, he became Braithwaite’s first wicket for the inning. Siriwardana was caught in the slips by Blackwood no sooner the scored reached 150. Siriwardena batted for 60 minutes on the tricky wicket and hit two sixes and three fours.
The game was pushed, more in the balance on the dot of lunch when Kusal Janith Perera was caught behind by Ramdin off Braithwaite for 5. At lunch the Lankans were 165 for 6 59.1 overs with skipper Mathews not out on 31. In the two hours of batting the Lankans lost four wickets for 89.
In the post lunch session the pair of Mathews and newly promoted vice Captain Rangana Herath occupied the crease for 10.1 overs to make a 30 run stand where Herath’s contribution was 18 runs. He was out trying to play the sweep a bit too often.With the Lankan 200 mark the next in batsman Dilruwan Perera who slammed a six a single and a skier fell victim to Braithwaite.
The next out was skipper Mathews himself. Mathews who resisted temptation for almost one and a half sessions was out while trying to play yet another sweep and was out caught in the slips for 46 off 120 balls.
The Lankan inning finished when Braithwaite had his sixth scalp to finish with impressive figures of 6 for 29.
This meant that the West Indies were given a target of 244 runs to win with ample time spare. Lankans were all out 206 all out.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka 1st innings 200 all out in 66 overs
(Milinda Siriwardana 68, Jomel Warrican 4-67)
West Indies 1st innings 163 all out in 64.2 overs (Kraigg Brathwaite 47, Dhammika Prasad 4-34,
Dilruwan Perera 3-28)
Sri Lanka 2nd innings
Dimuth Karunaratne c Bishoo b Taylor 0
(First ball dismissal, slow inswinger, flicks in
the air and caught spectacularly at square leg)
Kaushal Silva c Blackwood b Warrican 32
(Pitched on leg stump across the batsman,
looks to poke to leg, and edges it to first slip)
Kusal Mendis c Ramdin b Warrican 39
(Lands on perfect length, batsman pushes at
that and edges it to the keeper)
Dinesh Chandimal c Ramdin b Taylor 12
(Short pitched delivery, batsman punches at
it but takes an inside edge to the keeper)
Angelo Mathews c Blackwood b Brathwaite 46
(Soft dismissal, goes for a reverse sweep
only to toss the ball to the slips)
Milinda Siriwardana c Blackwood b Brathwaite 42
(Pitches on off stumps and spins away,
gets the outside edge to the first slip)
Kusal Perera c Ramdin b Brathwaite 5
(Batsman looks to cut, gets a bottom edge to the keeper)
Rangana Herath c Blackwood b Brathwaite 18
(Tries to fetch the ball well outside the off and
sweeps to top edge to slips)
Dilruwan Perera c Roach b Brathwaite 7
(Tossed up delivery, attempts a big slog-sweep,
caught at deep midwicket)
Dhammika Prasad not out 1
Nuwan Pradeep c Blackwood b Brathwaite 0
(Pressed forward for a full length delivery inside
the line, finds thick outside edge to slips)
Extras (b2, lb2) 4
Total (all out; 75.3 overs) 206
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Karunaratne), 2-55 (Mendis), 3-84 (Silva), 4-84 (Chandimal), 5-151 (Siriwardana), 6-165 (Kusal Perera),7-195 (Herath), 8-203 (Dilruwan Perera), 9-206 (Mathews), 10-206 (Pradeep)
Bowling: Jerome Taylor 8-3-26-2, Kemar Roach 6-1-15-0, Jason Holder 5-1-9-0, Jomel Warrican 25-2-62-2, Devendra Bishoo 20-3-61-0, Kraigg Brathwaite 11.3-4-29-6
West Indies 2nd innings (target: 244 runs)
Kraigg Brathwaite lbw b Prasad 3
(Inswinger, defends but misses the line of
the ball and hit right in front)
Sai Hope not out 17
Extras 0
Total (1 wicket; 9 overs) 20
Still to bat: Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Jermaine Blackwood, Denesh Ramdin, Jason Holder, Devendra Bishoo, Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach, Jomal Warrican
Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Brathwaite)
Bowling: Dhammika Prasad 5-2-4-1, Nuwan Pradeep 1-0-8-0, Rangana Herath 3-1-8-0