Tame draw at Galle
Paranavithana misses his third ton:
Chris Dhambarage reporting from Galle
Two fighting knocks from opener Tharanga Paranavithana and Mahela
Jayawardena ensured Sri Lanka would force a draw to the opening Test
match against the West Indies at the Galle International Stadium
yesterday.
Sri Lanka trailing by 202 runs and forced to follow on, had reached
241 for 4 in their second innings a lead of 39 runs when bad light
halted play in the last over before the tea break.
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Sri Lankan batsmen Tharanga Paranavitana plays a shot during
the fifth and final day of the first Test match between Sri
Lanka and West Indies at The Galle International Cricket
Stadium in Galle. AFP |
A slight drizzle continued thereafter for more than one hour and the
umpires eventually called off the game at 4.15 p.m. Thilan Samaraweera
was batting on 19 and with him was all rounder Angelo Mathews.
Earlier elegant left hander Paranavithana missed out his third
hundred from four Test matches as he was dismissed for a painstaking 95
from 219 deliveries and with eight boundaries.
He was of course let off by the West Indian captain Darren Sammy at
first slip from the bowling of Shane Shillingford when the batsman had
just completed his half century. However thereafter Paranavithana played
more responsibly and steadied the innings after the West Indies had
struck two vital blows during the morning session in pursuit of their
first Test victory in Sri Lanka.
Paceman Kemar Roach gave the West Indies a perfect start by uprooting
the stumps of Tillekeratne Dilshan in the fifth over of the day that
also brought an end to a threatening opening stand of 102 runs.
Dilshan had made 54 from 78 balls with five boundaries. But in the
very next over Kemar Roach provided another breakthrough for the West
Indies when he removed the Sri Lankan captain with a tremendous
delivery.
Former captain Mahela Jayawardena joined Paranavithana and the pair
toiled hard under a huge amount of pressure for nearly three hours to
keep the West Indies attack at bay while putting on a stubborn 87 runs
for the third wicket.
Jayawardena reached his second half century of the match hoisting
Brendon Nash for a six and also reached a milestone while going pass the
9500 career run mark playing in his 114th Test match.
WEST INDIES 1ST INNINGS 580-9 dec.
SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS 378
SRI LANKA 2ND INNINGS
(overnight 89-0)
T. Paranavitana c Sammy b Shillingford 95
T. Dilshan b Roach 54
K. Sangakkara c Sammy b Roach 4
M. Jayawardene c and b Nash 58
T. Samaraweera not out 19
A. Mathews not out 5
Extras (lb1, nb1, w4) 6
Total (for four wickets 241
Fall of wickets: 1-102 (Dilshan), 2-110 (Sangakkara), 3-197 (Paranavitana), 4-233 (M. Jayawardene).
Bowling: Roach 17-3-55-2, Russell 8-1-31-0 (w2), Dwayne Bravo 12.2-1-40-0 (w2),
Shillingford 30-4-79-1, Sammy 9-2-14-0, Nash 5-0-21-1.
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