Charlie Austin
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3rd Test: Sri Lanka v West Indies at Colombo, 29 Nov - 3 Dec 2001 Charlie Austin |
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West Indies 1st innings:
Pre-game: |
West Indies, 207 for two at tea, were 277 for three at the evening drinks break, with 18 overs still to be bowled today.
Lara, who became the sixth West Indian batsmen to score 7000 runs in the post-tea session, was still going strong at the evening water break on 146, having hit 18 fours and one straight six.
Lara’s only misjudgment was when he called Ramnaresh Sarwan through for a quick single. Normally there would have been a run, but Jaywardene raced in from cover and threw down the stumps off-balance with Sarwan inches short.
Sarwan had scored 69 and once again missed out on his maiden Test century. As he trailed off the field, Lara sank to his knees in disappointment, before exercising his guilt with two thunderous boundaries off consecutive deliveries from Muralitharan.
After tea, Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya persevered with Chaminda Vaas, who continued to trouble the batsmen.
>From the other end he rotated his spinners, five of whom have been tried so far in the day. Muralitharan was treated with the most respect and should have had Carl Hooper stumped down the leg-side for 26.
The West Indian captain was 31 not out at the interval and just starting to flow following boundaries off Niroshan Bandaratillake and Vaas.
West Indies, 17 for two early this morning, added 117 runs in the session and went into tea on 207 for two, with Lara on 112 and Ramnaresh Sarwan on 68, looking for his maiden hundred.
It's a strong position, but West Indies only have to cast their minds back to Galle - where they were 423 for four before collapsing to 448 all out - to realise that the job is not finished yet.
Lara reached his 17th century off 159 balls. It was not his most flamboyant effort, but it was a very controlled and skillful innings.
He should, though, have been dismissed on 85, when Kumar Sanagakkara, whose had a poor day behind the stumps, dropped a chance off the part-time off-breaks of Russel Arnold, who also looked unlucky to have an lbw appeal turned down against Sarwan on 60.
Sarwan became somewhat becalmed in the second hour of the afternoon and looked to struggling from the blow to his head earlier in the day.
Vaas returned for a four-over burst shortly before the tea interval and swung the old ball into the left-handed Lara. He had a couple of close shouts, but each time the ball was just slipping past Lara's leg stump.
Brian Lara scored his 35th half-century and looks well set for his 17th century on 77, whilst Guyanan right-hander Ramnaresh Sarwan is providing good support, on 54, his eighth Test fifty.
At the afternoon drinks break West Indies were 156 for two after 43 overs.
Sri Lanka started with their two premier bowlers straight after lunch: Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas.
Sarwan, on 35, survived a confidant bat-pad appeal in Muralitharan’s second over and was then hit behind his right ear by a throw from Niroshan Bandaratillake.
He carried on after treatment and then enjoyed some good fortune, as Hashan Tillakaratne dropped a sharp one-handed chance at short leg when was on 44.
Lara was more positive in the post lunch session. He edged two boundaries to third man and then swiveled-pulled Vaas to the mid-wicket fence. Muralitharan was driven through mid-on and the covers for four and Bandaratillake, replacing Vaas, was dismissively thumped through the covers first ball.
West Indies were reduced to 17 for two after an incisive spell of swing bowling by Chaminda Vaas, before Sarwan and Lara added 73 for the third wicket.
At the luncheon interval West Indies were 90 for two with Sarwan not out 31 and Lara on 38.
Vaas (7-0-33-2) was withdrawn from the attack shortly after the water break following a lordly cover drive from Lara and replaced by Niroshan Bandaratillake (4-1-12-0) who was then lofted straight down the ground.
Apart from those two blows, Lara was been content to accumulate his runs in singles and twos, emphasizing the point made by Hooper four days ago, that Lara is now showing greater application than of old.
Muttiah Muralitharan (6-1-10-0), already boasting 21 wickets in the series, was brought into the attack after a solitary over from Thilan Samaraweera. He did not extract the same amount of turn that he did in Galle and Kandy on this flat pitch.
Sarwan looked in good form and was especially quick to punish anything over-pitched.
The 27-year-old left-armer capitalised on the heavy morning conditions and swung the new ball appreciably in the morning.
His first ball of the day bent into the pads of the right-handed Daren Ganga and his first ball to Chris Gayle was a perfect outswinger that induced an airy swish.
Gayle then edged his third ball to wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara to be dismissed for a duck. It was another well-directed outswinger that Gayle tried to leave at the very last moment but was too late. Sangakkara took a brilliant low catch in front of first slip.
Ganga and Ramnaresh Sarwan then battled hard for the next 29 minutes as both Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa moved the ball in the air and off the pitch.
At the end of the seventh over Vaas broke through again, as Ganga, guilty of playing across his front pad, was trapped lbw by an inswinger.
Sarwan was then joined by Brian Lara, who was soon playing positively and leg-glanced Vaas for an early boundary. Lara was 10 not out at the interval. Sarwan had scored 17 with three boundaries.
West Indies made one change to the side that lost in Kandy, including fast bowler Marlon Black in place of Colin Stuart, who had such a torrid second Test with both bat and ball.
Sri Lanka named an unchanged side as the selectors stuck by left-arm spin bowler Niroshan Bandaratillake and left-hand batsmen Russel Arnold, who has scored just three half-centuries in 33 innings.
Speaking after the teams final practice session yesterday, Hooper called for his batsmen to emulate star batsman Brian Lara, who has put together scores of 178, 40, 74 and 45.
"We have all struggled apart from Brian (Lara)," Hooper said, "who has played Muralitharan positively, whilst the rest of us have been a little too defensive. We do have a lot of young players and Muralitharan has been something of a shock to them, but you have to give the bowler something to think about."
Sri Lanka, two-nil up in the series, are looking for their first clean sweep since achieving Test status in 1982.
West Indies, though, will be hoping that they can reverse an appalling run of form overseas that has seen them lose 20 of their last 24 Tests.
Sri Lanka:
Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Hashan Tillakaratne, Thilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas, Niroshan Bandaratillake, Muttiah Muralithathan, Nuwan Zoysa
West Indies:
Carl Hooper (capt), Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Mervyn Dillon, Pedro Collins, Dinanath Ramnarine, Marlon Black
© CricInfo
Date-stamped : 29 Nov2001 - 18:35