West Indies lower order resistance and rain checks Lankan advance

Sri Lanka’s Dushmantha Chameera dives goal-keeper fashion to bring off a stunning catch at cover point to dismiss Jason Holder

Burly West Indian Rahkeem Cornwall, who defied the Lankan bowling to score 39, on the attack

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne looks towards the heavens as rain pelts down on the Galle Stadium wiping out play for the rest of the third day

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka’s attempt to press for a win in the first Sobers-Tissera Trophy Test match was held up by strong resistance from the West Indies lower order batsmen and rain which washed out play after five overs into the afternoon session of the third day at the Galle International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

When play was called off for the day with 52 overs remaining to be bowled, West Indies replying to Sri Lanka’s first innings of 386 were 224-9, trailing by 162 runs with one wicket in hand, having saved the follow-on which was their first priority when they resumed at 113-6.

When there was uninterrupted play in the first two days one thought the rainy days were behind us, but lo and behold it returned at around 1 p.m. yesterday to wipe out play for the rest of the day. With two days left and the weather quite unpredictable a draw seems the most likely result at this stage.    

The Lankan spinners who looked so dominant on the second evening were a little off colour in the morning session either bowling too short or too full and overnight batsmen Kyle Mayers and Jason Holder along with Rahkeem Cornwall took full advantage of this shortcoming to plunder boundaries at will. 

The spinners proved so ineffective that they conceded 96 runs off 29 overs forcing the captain to bring on his fast bowlers. Mendis was the worst to suffer his overnight figures of 3/23 being spoilt by conceding 75 runs without any further success.

It took some brilliant catching on the field to send back Mayers and Holder when they had looked threatening having put on a defiant stand of 63 for the seventh wicket.

Part-time off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva obliged his captain with the much-needed breakthrough when he found his three main spinners proving unproductive. Mayers who was batting so well in a boundary dominated innings of 45 off 62 balls (8 fours) played a stroke too early and lobbed the ball to short cover where Dimuth Karunaratne pulled off a spectacular catch.

If Karunaratne’s catch was spectacular, the one that Dushmantha Chameera took at point off Praveen Jayawickrama to send back Holder was astounding. He dived like a goal keeper at cover point to hold onto a powerful cut shot to end Holder’s 60-ball resistance for 36 which included 3 fours and 2 sixes.

Sri Lanka could have wrapped up the West Indies innings much earlier had De Silva not missed a chance offered by Joshua Da Silva at 4 off Jayawickrama. That lapse proved costly to an extent that it produced another stubborn stand of 49 of which the burly Cornwall scored 39 off 58 balls (5 fours, 1 six) batting with a lot of proficiency. 

He departed off the last ball before the second new ball was due when he top-edged a catch to square leg to provide Suranga Lakmal with his first wicket of the innings. No sooner had Sri Lanka seen the back of Cornwall the dark clouds gathered and the heavens opened out, shutting out play for the rest of the day.

Sri Lanka spin bowling coach Piyal Wijetunge speaking to the media at the end of the day said that he was not 100 percent happy with the performance of his three spinners yesterday.

“That happens when the spinners find there is help from the wicket and try too hard to take wickets instead of bowling a steady line and length,” said Wijetunge. “That comes with exposure. These guys are young and have not played more than 15 Tests together. It is an area which we have to address.”   

Play will resume today 15 minutes early at 9:45 a.m.