West Indies (354 & 280/4) draw the 2nd Test versus Sri Lanka (258 & 193/2)

There's the declaration.

Can WI take ten wickets ? Can SL survive ? Pitch is still a good one to bat on.
 
Decent start for Sri Lanka.

29/0 at close.

Sri Lanka need 348 runs to win.
 
Holder and Brathwaite leave Sri Lanka with mountain to climb

The second Test between the West Indies and Sri Lanka is set for a thrilling finish with the tourists heading into day five with all 10 wickets in hand and a huge target in front of them.

Half-centuries from Kraigg Brathwaite (85), Jason Holder (71*) and Kyle Mayers (55) powered the West Indies to 280/4 when the declaration was called, setting Sri Lanka a target of 377 to win.

By stumps, Sri Lanka were 29/0, with Lahiru Thirimanne (17*) and Dimuth Karunaratne (11*) at the crease.

Sri Lanka's first innings was wrapped up quickly on day four as Kemar Roach (3/58) struck twice in an over to bowl them out for 258.

With a healthy lead of 96, the West Indies got off to a steady start in their second innings. The visitors, meanwhile, received a blow when their specialist spinner Lasith Embuldeniya was stretchered off when he injured his leg while fielding.


John Campbell, who had already survived a DRS review, was dismissed on 10 when he reviewed a caught behind decision unsuccessfully off Suranga Lakmal (2/62).

With Nkrumah Bonner battling a back injury, Jermaine Blackwood was promoted to first drop and scored an eventful 18.

On the first ball of his innings, he was struck on the pad by Lakmal with Sri Lanka calling for the review. He survived that review, but only just.

On five, he was involved in a major mix-up with Brathwaite that almost saw the skipper run out for seven after Blackwood turned down a second run. Only Karunaratne's failure to gather the ball saved Brathwaite.

On seven, Blackwood was dropped by Thirimanne at first slip, with the Sri Lankan spilling a presentable chance off the bowling of Vishwa Fernando (0/49).

Eventually, he perished to Dushmantha Chameera (2/74), edging a short ball behind and making way for Mayers.

With the West Indies looking to set Sri Lanka a big target to chase and as quickly as possible, Mayers played his shots. The left-hander raced to his half-century in just 63 deliveries, hitting eight fours in his 55 before perishing lbw to Lakmal.


By that stage the West Indies' lead had swelled to 236 with six wickets remaining and the dismissal did little to slow them down.

Holder got off the mark with a drive through the covers for four off Dhananjaya de Silva (0/81) and hit three boundaries inside the first 20 deliveries he faced.

Having raised his half-century off 137 deliveries, Brathwaite freed his arms after the tea break, picking up boundaries in back-to-back overs and looked on course to notch twin centuries. With the landmark in sight, he had his timber rattled on 85 by Chameera. That brought Brathwaite's match with the bat to an end - a Test in which he scored 211 runs and saw out 507 deliveries.

By the time Brathwaite fell, Holder had raced to 43 and he wasted little time getting to his fifty, reaching the milestone off just 69 balls.

With a declaration coming, he and Joshua Da Silva put the foot down, adding 53 runs in less than seven overs.

When Brathwaite called them in Holder (71*) had hit seven boundaries in his 88-ball stay, with Da Silva not out on 20 off 16.


Earlier, Sri Lanka came out to bat on Thursday at 250/8 with Pathum Nissanka and Embuldeniya at the crease.

Nissanka soon got to his half-century with a single off Shannon Gabriel (1/37), passing 50 for the second time in just his third Test innings. The duo, however, were not able to add too much more to Sri Lanka's tail.

Roach, bowling his second over of the day first removed Nissanka for 51, having him caught at deep square leg. In the same over, he dismissed No.11 Vishwa Fernando for a duck, ending Sri Lanka's innings on 258.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2081457
 
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – West Indies need ten wickets to win the Sandals Test series on Friday, after captain Kraigg Brathwaite, as well as Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers all scored high-quality half-centuries to spearhead a victory bid on Thursday – the fourth day of the second Sandals Test match.

Brathwaite followed up his first innings 126 with a top score of 85 while Holder mad an stroke-filled 71 not out and Mayers an up tempo 55 as the home side declared their second innings on 280-4, just over 45 minutes before the close at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Left-handers Lahiru Thirimanne (17 not out) and Dimuth Karunaratne (11 not out) batted out the final stages for Sri Lanka to reach 29-0. The visitors will require a further 345 runs to win when the match resumes on Friday at 9:30am (8:30am Jamaica Time) with a minimum of 98 overs to be bowled.

Earlier in the day, West Indies had needed just 23 balls to wrap up the Sri Lanka first innings for 258. Kemar Roach (3-58) took both wickets to fall – Pathum Nissanka (51) caught by substitute Hayden Walsh jr from a top-edged hook and last man Vishwa Fernando taken behind by keeper Joshua Da Silva.

In the second innings, Brathwaite and Mayers both looked supremely confident in an 82-run, third wicket stand as Mayers hit eight fours off 76 balls. Brathwaite and Holder then combined in an 87-run, fourth wicket partnership. The skipper hit four fours off 196 balls in five hours. Overall in the match he batted 13-1/2 hours and faced 507 balls.

Holder played some fluent drives and powerful pulls and faced 88 balls in 2-1/2 hours and counted seven fours. Holder and Da Silva, who was not out on 20 when the declaration came, put on 53 in an unbroken fifth wicket stand.
 
Sri Lanka 139/1
Target 377
41 overs remaining in the day

Karunaratne 69*
Fernando 28*

Draw looks all but assured.
 
Series ends in a 0-0 draw. Fair result. Pitches proved to be too docile, but that's happens when you multiple matches at one ground.
 
An anti-climax.

Dead pitches and neither side could really dominate the other.
 
Honours were shared at the end of the final Test between the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

A return to form from Dimuth Karunararatne helped his side to a comfortable draw in the second Test, with the Sri Lanka captain scoring an impressive 75.

Chasing 377 to win, Sri Lanka resumed the day at 29/0 with the most positive result available to them looking to be the draw. The hosts' hopes of victory were hurt by a wet outfield, with initial plans to start play at 9:30am scuppered and instead pushed back to 10:35.

Their pursuit of victory was further hindered just three overs into the day as the in-form Lahiru Thirimanne gloved a Shannon Gabriel (0/20) bouncer behind only to be granted a second chance as wicket-keeper Joshua Da Silva spilled the catch.

Thirimanne, with half-centuries from each of his three past innings, was on 17 at the time and the opening stand was only worth 38.

By the time the West Indies removed Thirimanne, the Sri Lankan opening stand was worth 101 and had soaked up more than 38 overs.

It was a stand dominated by Karunaratne; a captain under pressure after making just 16 runs across his first three innings of the series.

Starting the final day of the campaign on 11, he immediately looked in good touch, clipping Gabriel off his pads for four off the second delivery of the day.

Playing with equal measures of restraint and positivity, he hit six boundaries on his way to an 87-ball fifty that came on the cusp of lunch and left the West Indies needing to take 10 wickets in two sessions. Despite the solid start, Sri Lanka's own chances of victory were all but over, with the tourists needing another 284 runs to win after lunch.

The second session saw the West Indies remove both openers but that was the only joy they would have for the day.

Thirimanne was the first man out, falling short of a fourth consecutive fifty as he was caught impressively by Rahkeem Cornwall at first slip off the bowling of Alzarri Joseph (1/33) for 39. It came shortly after a major blow to the West Indies' cause, with Gabriel injuring a hamstring in the second over of the session.

When Kyle Mayers (1/5) trapped Karunaratne in front for 75 shortly before tea, the door was left slightly ajar for the West Indies, but a half-century from Oshada Fernando (66*) in the company of Dinesh Chandimal (10*) ensured the draw from there.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite was named Player of the Match for his first-innings century and second-innings 85, while Suranga Lakmal (11 wickets at 21.45) was crowned Player of the Series.
 
Capture.JPG

ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Sri Lanka batted out the last day to earn a draw against West Indies in the second and final Sandals Test match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, on Friday. West Indies started the day needing 10 wickets for victory but got two on a good batting surface as the visitors closed on 193-2.

Captain Dimuth Karunaratne made the top score of 75 off 176 balls with nine fours while Oshada Fernando was unbeaten on 66 off 119 balls with eight fours. The wickets for West Indies went to fast bowler Alzarri Joseph (1-33) and medium-pacer Kyle Mayers (1-5).

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite collected the Sandals Player-of-the-Match award for his scores of 126 and 85. During the match he batted for 810 minutes and faced 507 balls. Sri Lanka’s experienced seamer Suranga Lakmal was named the Sandals Player-of-the-Series for his 11 wickets in the two matches.

Brathwaite spoke on the Sandals Player Zone after the match. He said: “Obviously it was a good pitch. In both Test matches the bowlers really worked hard and what I was pleased with is that none of the guys ever gave up. Even down to Alzarri’s last spell he was still giving an effort to get some short balls in so I’m very happy with the effort of the team.”

He added: “And batting-wise, we continued to bat a number of overs – 90-plus overs which is a positive for us. And yes, we would’ve liked to have won but I was very happy with the attitude and discipline that we had. The pitch was a good one throughout.”

There was also a draw in the first Sandals Test last week so the two-match rubber ended 0-0. Earlier in the tour West Indies won the CG Insurance T20 International Series 2-1 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground and also took the CG Insurance One-Day International Series 3-0 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
 
Disappointing result for the West Indies at the end of the day. Even if weather hadn't intervened during this test, it would have been very hard to bowl Sri Lanka out on the last day as the wicket died again.

Good series for Kyle Mayers and Nkrumah Bonner though, it's good to see that there are cricketers in the domestic system in the Caribbean that can progress to test level.
 
Apparantly these snoozefest inducing pitches are considered better cricket pitches than subcontinental pitches
 
Back
Top