ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Cricket West Indies announced today the schedule for the International Home Series between Windies and Sri Lanka next year.
Windies will face the Sri Lankans next June in three Tests in Trinidad, Barbados and St. Lucia.
Sri Lanka have previously played Tests at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground (formerly Beausejour Cricket Ground) in St. Lucia – but this will be the first time they will play a Test at the iconic Kensington Oval in Barbados.
This will be the Sri Lankans’ fourth official Tour of the Caribbean, where they have won one, lost three and drawn two of the six Tests they have played.
SCHEDULE OF MATCHES
Wed, May 30 to Fri, Jun 1 Tour Match – Brian Lara Cricket Ground, Trinidad Wed, Jun 6 to Sun, Jun 10 1st Test – Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad Thu, Jun 14 to Mon, Jun 18 2nd Test – Kensington Oval, Barbados Sat, Jun 23 to Wed, Jun 27 3rd Test – Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, St. Lucia
The defiance that West Indies had found on day three wilted, their wickets fell in a heap for the second time in the Test, and New Zealand sped to an innings-and-67-run victory - the hosts' quicks having wiped the opposition out with the second new ball. Following the top-order partnerships West Indies had mounted on Sunday, it was the rate of their demise on Monday that was dispiriting. They added only 105 to the overnight score, and lost their last seven wickets for 62 runs, in the space of 20 overs.
The New Zealand quicks shared the wickets around, as the opposition perished to a series of poor strokes. Matt Henry added the wicket of Roston Chase to the two dismissals he had effected on day three, to finish with figures of 3 for 57. Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Colin de Grandhomme claimed two wickets apiece meanwhile - Wagner's wickets particularly significant, after he had been clobbered by the top order on Sunday.
This result means that New Zealand go to the second Test without having been stretched at Wellington. Although there were difficult moments in the field, particularly while Shimron Hetmyer and Kraigg Brathwaite batted together on the third evening, no bowler was required to deliver more than 45 overs in the Test, and at no point did West Indies muster a century stand.
A rampant Guyana Jaguars outplayed the Barbados Pride to win the fifth round Cricket West Indies (CWI) Professional Cricket League (PCL) four-day game by eight wickets yesterday at the National Stadium, Providence. Scores in the match: Barbados Pride 294 and 197; Guyana Jaguars 314 and 181-2.A decidedly one-sided outcome was not an entirely true reflection of the contest which ebbed and flowed through the first two-and-a-half days.Since then, however, the three-times defending champions have been on an uncompromising victory surge, thanks largely to their three seamers, who combined to haul them into a dominant position. The seamers bagged all ten of Barbados Pride second innings wickets, to set the hosts a victory target of just 178 runs, which they achieved with eight wickets to spare.The result gave the Jaguars their fourth victory of the season and they have now extended their lead at the top of the table, moving to 86.4 points, having gained 21.6 from this match. Pride have now moved to 47.8, having collected 5.6.
Volcanoes vs Scorpions
Captain of the Jamaica Scorpions, spinner Nikita Miller, has cited the record ninth-wicket partnership of 141 runs between himself and batsman Fabian Allen as key to their commanding 10-wicket win over Windward Islands Volcanoes in their fifth-round CWI-Digicel Four-day Championship clash at Sabina Park yesterday. The match-up, which ended early on the fourth day, saw the Scorpions not losing a wicket loss in chase of the victory target of 35 runs after they had earlier dismissed the Windwards for 186 in their second innings. The Windwards, led by an unbeaten 116 from opener Devon Smith, made 200 in their first innings, to which Jamaica replied with 352. Up-and-coming middle-order batsman Allen, with 105 not out, and opener John Campbell, 71, led the way for Jamaica, with Miller, 52, being the next best.
New Zealand hurtled to a profoundly commanding position in the first seven sessions of the Wellington Test, but the opposition began to resist on the third day. West Indies were still a long way back - 172 in arrears with two second-innings wickets already spent. But thanks to Kraigg Brathwaite's fortitude, a spark from Kieran Powell, and a little flash from Shimron Hetmyer, their hopes of making something out of this match are not yet extinguished. Brathwaite remained at the crease on 79, with Shai Hope for company.
But perhaps this was always going to be a batting day - the Basin Reserve pitch tends to flatten dramatically as matches wear on. In the morning, Tom Blundell had progressed from an overnight 57 not out to triple figures, becoming the first wicketkeeper-batsman to make a debut Test century since Matt Prior in 2007.
What was remarkable was that he scored 52 of his eventual 107 not out in the company of Trent Boult - the pair putting on an unbeaten stand of 78 for the last wicket. Soon after Blundell reached his century, New Zealand declared on 520 for 9, taking a 386-run advantage into the second innings.
Few might have expected West Indies to claim momentum as dramatically as they did after lunch, however. If one aspect of play epitomised the vigour they brought to those sessions, it was their bristling confidence when facing their tormentor from the first dig: Neil Wagner. On day one, Wagner had collected 7 for 39 in 14 overs, as batsmen almost raced each other back to the pavilion.
