There was an energy about the West Indies as they took the field on Tuesday morning in Galle. The Caribbean side began the day with spin from both ends in the forms of Roston Chase (finishing up his over from Day 1) and Jomel Warrican, who inspected the defenses of the overnight pair of Pathum Nissanka and Oshada Fernando, from ball one.
It was Nissanka who made the first escape from Warrican, pushing at a ball that ended up bouncing off Nkrumah Bonner’s right thigh at silly point and fell just short of Shai Hope at a shortish mid-off. Oshada, however, would not find such luck, as he was removed by Warrican, trying to cut at one that just kept moving away from him, edging behind to Joshua Da Silva.
Angelo Mathews was then dropped on 8, as he played one from Chase directly at Bonner in the short leg position. Still, the ball just would not stick to the Jamaican. The drop wouldn’t prove costly for the West Indies, as the next 8 Sri Lankan wickets fell for 52 runs.
WHAT makes a cricket team perform poorly? The main reason is that they discharged the functions of their responsibilities worse than their opponents. And why did they not produce better? That is where the secret of playing sport lies. What is the secret? Understanding the game and its art and using one’s love for the sport and one’s ability to be the best one can be. Some will love cricket more than others and players will decide early in their lifetimes whether they want to pursue their future in cricket by aiming for international status, winning kudos for brilliance or they may rather not sacrifice the time or effort as their ambition lies elsewhere.
When Brian Lara was fourteen, I was the cricket coach at Fatima College. During a practice session one afternoon in early 1984 he asked me, “how come the world’s highest individual Test score of 365 not out held by Sir Garfield Sobers and scored since 1958, still stands? Why hasn’t anyone broken that record yet?”
I explained to the youngster that conditions of the game and the state of the pitch have to be present for a batsman to have the time, plus he will need the ambition and the ability to bat all those hours. He said to me with a shy smile, “I’ll beat that record”. I replied that it was a nice ambition to have and good luck, with a smile on my face. Even at that age, his talent shone through and I had already tagged him to play Test cricket. But to score more than 365 in a single innings? Not likely, I thought.
West Indies bowling coach, Roddy Estwick, was pleased with the bowling performance of his team on Monday's rain-affected first day of their second Test match against Sri Lanka in Galle.
Sri Lanka ended the day on 113-1 from the 34.4 overs that were possible after rain washed out the entire first two sessions.
Pathum Nissanka and Oshada Fernando are the batsmen at the crease on 61 and two, respectively, while Roston Chase has so far taken 1-33 from 7.4 overs.
The West Indies made two changes to the team from the first test in the bowling department with Veerasammy Permaul and Kemar Roach playing instead of Rakheem Cornwall and Shannon Gabriel.
Estwick says the presence of a number of right-handers in the Sri Lankan batting line-up was the reason why Permaul, a left-arm spinner, came into the side at the expense of Cornwall, who bowls off-spin.
“When you look at the Sri Lankan batting line-up, they’re packed with right-handers. We felt that with Roston already bowling off-spin, it would be wiser to go with two left-arm spinners,” he said.
Sri Lanka reached 113-1 at the end of a rain-shortened opening day of the second Test against the West Indies at Galle on Monday.
On a day when only 34.4 overs were possible after play began after tea, Sri Lanka’s openers Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne shared in an opening stand 106.
Roston Chase broke the partnership in the 31st over when he had Karunaratne caught and bowled for 42. The Sri Lankan captain who had scores of 147 and 83 in the first Test, was early into a drive and ended up scooping the ball back to Chase, who dove low to his right to snag the catch, leaving Karunaratne eight runs short of a possible seventh score of fifty or more in Test cricket.
West Indies T20 star Chris Gayle plans to be at the ICC Cricket World Cup next year, but this time around more than likely as a spectator in the stands.
The 42-year-old ball-smasher was widely expected to retire following last month’s failed ICC T20 World Cup campaign but announced on that occasion that plans might have been underway for a farewell fixture, in his home country Jamaica, at Sabina Park.
"It's doubtful you will see me playing for West Indies again in international cricket. We have something planned against Ireland. I am just waiting for the board to finalize things. And once we get a date, we would find out what it is. It should be back home in Jamaica, Sabina Park. Final international run so I’m looking forward to it," Gayle told EspnCricinfo.
