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| Tuesday, 10 June 2003 |
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Chandana steers Lanka to series win over Windies BARBADOS, Bridgetown, Sunday - What a finish the second Cable and Wireless one-day international provided at the Kensington Oval here amidst a Sunday crowd when Sri Lanka completed a magnificent four-wicket victory to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The odds were against Sri Lanka topping the West Indies total of 312 for 4 off 50 overs, not because they lacked the ability and talent, but because their batting was very much short of confidence leading up to today's game. But an excellent all-round contribution from batsmen one to eight saw Sri Lanka seal a memorable victory reaching 315 for six wickets off 49.3 overs with three balls to spare.
It was the highest total Sri Lanka had chased and won. The previous highest was 313-7 off 49.2 overs against Zimbabwe in a World Cup match played at New Plymouth in 1992. The man who made it possible for Sri Lanka was all-rounder Upul Chandana who clobbered a career best 89 off 71 balls after being promoted to bat at no. 5. Chandana waded into the West Indies bowling and chancing his arm made an impossible victory look conceivable with an all out attack that brought him five fours and three sixes. When he dismissed going for another big hit on the leg side, Sri Lanka were 293 for four in the 48th over and well within reach of their target. "It was easily the best innings I've played for my country," said Chandana after receiving the Man-of-the-match award. "It was easy to start my innings going against the spinners. Collymore was a bit difficult to handle because he was bringing the ball in, but otherwise I took my chances," he said. The lithe right-hander made full use of some poor West Indies fielding to complete his highest one-day score being dropped at 86 and 88. Overall, the West Indies dropped six catches and one stumping and that alone summed up the reason why they failed to defend a total of 312. Chandana added 101 runs off 12 overs in partnership with Mahela Jayawardene to really raise the tempo of the Sri Lankan innings and keep it within the asking rate of 6.26 runs per over. Chandana's innings more than compensated for his bowling when he was knocked around for 40 runs in four overs. Jayawardene departed in the next over attempting to force the pace. He scored 32 off 41 balls without a boundary, but had taken Sri Lanka past the 300-run mark. It was left to Tillakaratne Dilshan (13) and Kumar Dharmasena (5) to see Sri Lanka through. Dharmasena on drove Collymore for four through the inner ring of fielders which Brian Lara had set to stop the singles, to signal a remarkable victory. The two batsmen were so overjoyed with the result they hugged each other and ran back to the pavilion each with a stump in hand. Kaluwitharana and Jayasuriya provided the platform for the Sri Lankan run chase with an opening partnership of 71 in 11 overs. Jayasuriya batting freely after a very long-time made 41 off 36 balls with five fours and a six before being caught at backward point. Kaluwitharana followed his half-century on Saturday with 34 off 33 balls, and there was contributions right down the line with Atapattu making 47 of 60 balls and Sangakkara 31 off 57 balls. Marvan Atapattu, the Sri Lanka captain described the win as a tremendous achievement. "Overall in my career of 200 one-day internationals there has been very few times I have seen any team chasing 300 runs and winning a series abroad. It was a tremendous task and you can't ask for anything more," said Atapattu. "We live in a nation where cricket is almost a religion. Everybody's hopes are high and expectations are more especially with the batting. They look for our batsmen to perform every time they go out. I was under a little bit of pressure before I came here, but I was trying not to pass it on to the others. I thought that will affect their game," he said. "Today I was very happy with the batting but I won't be walking six inches off the ground saying our batting has clicked. It's nothing like that. We are looking for consistency here. One thing that was proved today is if the batsmen play their natural game, eventually it is where they are best at. When you have to score a run a ball, it shows that they are natural stroke players. They almost went after everything," Atapattu said. "Chandana is a match-winner on his day, not forgetting his bowling. He has not lived up to his potential throughout his career. But given the occasion he rose up to it. The thinking behind sending Upul up in the order was because there were two off spinners operating. "The message I gave to the guys was to get to the target of 313 rather than telling them to concentrate on the run rate. I am sure everybody took it that way otherwise a target like 300 plus is difficult to chase," said Atapattu. West Indies captain Brian Lara who saw his 17th one-day hundred of his career go waste said that no team was going to win any matches if they give the opposition chances. "One batsman got three or four chances. It's a mental thing. We seemed to be wanting under pressure today," said Lara. "We improved in the batting department compared to yesterday and we have to improve on our past performances. We will be looking at the next game at St Vincent," he said. Lara praised Chandana's innings and said: "Chandana batted very well. He had some big overs and he also had some chances. It was a surprise to see him come so early. The move to send him early showed that Sri Lanka were flexible. Moving Chandana up the order is what flexibility is all about. They used him there and he came off," he said. Lara scored 116 off 105 balls inclusive of nine fours and two sixes to take West Indies to a position of strength, only to see his fielders and bowlers let him down unable to cope with the pressure. Opener Chris Gayle set the tone for the innings with a robust 94 off 122 balls which included 12 fours and two sixes. Lara and Gayle shared a second wicket partnership of 137 in 26 overs after West Indies lost Wavell Hinds for 10 in the 11th over, Hinds was trapped lbw by Chaminda Vaas who once again bowled with superb control to finish with figures of one for 33 off 10 overs of which four were maidens. He was the only Sri Lankan bowler to go unpunished as the rest of the bowling were taken to task by the West Indian batsmen. Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who took the match award on Saturday, conceded 53 runs for his 10 overs without success. Nissanka's ten overs cost 67 runs, Jayasuriya went for 51 in six and Chandana (who replaced Darshana Gamage) was hit for 40 off four overs. Lara was also involved in another century partnership which realised 109 off 56 balls with Marlon Samuels who finished unbeaten on 56 scored off 36 balls with five fours and one six. Samuels was severe on the leg-spin of Chandana carting him for 21 runs (3 fours, 1 six) in the 40th over to get the momentum going in the innings following two run outs within the space of seven runs involving Lara. Gayle who was well on course for his sixth one-day century was run out by a direct hit from Muralitharan at mid-on when he called Lara for a sharp single. Sarwan was run out for three when Atapattu stopped a hot on drive and in one motion returned the ball to bowler Chandana. West Indies who were 174-3 in 38 overs at that stage really pressed on the accelerator from their onwards to add 115 runs off the last 10 overs. Lara who won his second consecutive toss chose to bat first on a dry and hard pitch full of runs. It was the same pitch used for Saturday's game which Sri Lanka won by 55 runs and on which the West Indies batsmen had struggled to be dismissed for 146. The third and final one-day international takes place at St Vincent on Wednesday. WEST INDIES C. Gayle run
out
94 BOWLING: C. Vaas 10-4-33-1, P. Nissanka 10-0-67-1, K. Dharmasena 8-0-54-0, M. Muralitharan 10-1-53-0, S. Jayasuriya 6-0-51-0, U. Chandana 4-0-40-0, M. Dilshan 2-0-11-0. SRI LANKA S. Jayasuriya c Drakes b Samuels 41 BOWLING: M. Dillon 10-0-66-0, C. Collymore 9.3-0-51-1, M. Samuels 10-0-50-1, R. Hurley 5-0-29-0, C. Gayle 5-0-40-0, V. Drakes 7-1-49-2, R. Sarwan 1-0-5-0, W. Hinds 2-0-18-0. |
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