The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

Chandimal ton revives SL after Gabriel fifer

Thu, Jun 14, '18

 

Windies vs SL

Not for the first time, and not for the second either, Dinesh Chandimal played a lone hand in challenging conditions to bail Sri Lanka out from a precarious situation and take them to a respectable score. On a wicket where sharp bounce had most of the batsmen struggling, Chandimal composed a fine unbeaten 119, and took the visitors to 253.

But for most parts of the day, while Chandimal held strong at his end, Windies bowlers kept picking away from the other. Shannon Gabriel was the wrecker-in-chief, bagging his third Test fifer. With pace and sharp bounce on offer, he made good use of the conditions and troubled the batsmen. For as notorious as he has been for bowling no balls, he didn't overstep even once through the course of the opening day.

The most torrid of the spells by the Windies came in the first half an hour of play after Sri Lanka asked them to field. Kemar Roach bowled three maidens in his first four, while Gabriel struck twice during this period. Sri Lanka, who had made four changes to the side, handed maiden caps to Mahela Udawatte and Kasun Rajitha. While, the latter played a crucial hand lower down the order, the former was dismissed for a second-ball duck opening the innings. The ball rose sharply, got the outside edge of his bat and landed safely in the lands of Jason Holder at slips. The manner of his dismissal became a pattern that continued through the course of their innings.

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