Sri Lanka amass 195 for 3
Mahela misses another century :
Sri Lanka profited from an amateurish fielding effort from a deflated
West Indies to post 195 for 3 after winning the toss and opting to bat
in the second match of the day at the Kensington Oval. The chief
architect of the mammoth total was Mahela Jayawardene who, in a sublime
display of risk-free strokeplay narrowly missed out on his second
century of the tournament, eventually finishing unbeaten on 98. He was
well supported by Kumar Sangakkara (68) in a 166-run partnership for the
second wicket, the highest of the tournament so far.
And that in itself is an indication of the ineptitude of the West
Indian fielding and bowling effort, as at least five straightforward
chances were missed. Jaywardene displayed silky touch and superb
manipulation of the bowling to take full toll, and Sangakkara, while not
quite in Jayawardene’s league at the moment, matched him almost shot for
shot.
It had seemed likely that, with the pitch offering bounce and carry,
West Indies would adopt a similarly aggressive bang-it-in approach as
Australia had earlier in the day, and indeed Kemar Roach seemed eager to
exploit the pace-friendly conditions as he hit the deck hard in his
opening over to trouble both openers.
Jerome Taylor, on his return to international cricket after a
six-month lay-off, was far more willing to pitch the ball up, and paid
the price for it initially as Sanath Jayasuriya, batting up the order in
place of the wretchedly out-of-form Tillekaratne Dilshan, clipped
Taylor’s first ball firmly back over his head.
In an eventful over, the second was then slapped low but straight to
Kieron Pollard at backward point. It was a regulation chance for a
fielder in that position, but Pollard couldn’t hold on to it, and the
lapse set the tone for West Indies’ performance in the field for the
rest of the afternoon.
Roach deceived Jayasuriya with a slightly slower bouncer to have the
veteran caught at short fine leg. Jayawardene lifted the very next ball
handsomely over wide long on for six. With that, the moment had passed
and the rest of the match was entirely Sri Lanka’s.
Both Sangakkara and Jayawardene flashed airily at the odd delivery,
but were level-headed enough to keep their composure and capitalise on
the bad balls that came, predictably, at least once an over. After an
erratic Dwayne Bravo had been carted for 22 in a two-over spell, Darren
Sammy, whom West Indies have looked to to keep things orderly in their
middle overs in recent times, was brought on but today his first over
was dispatched for 10, with Jayawardene favouring the area behind point
on the off side.
Sri Lanka
M. Jayawardene not out 98
S. Jayasuriya c Taylor b Roach 6
K. Sangakkara c Pollard b Bravo 68
C. Kapugedera b Roach 6
T. Dilshan not out 4
Extras (b1, lb1, w11) 13
Total (3 wkts, 20 overs) 195
Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Jayasuriya), 2-173 (Sangakkara), 3-191 (Kapugedera)
Bowling: Roach 4-0-27-2 (2w); Taylor 3-0-28-0 (1w); Bravo 3-0-36-1;
Benn 4-0-41-0 (2w); Sammy 2-0-23-0; Pollard 4-0-38-0 (1w)
CRICINFO
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