| 7.4.2008
by George Binoy
West
Indies 294 (Sarwan 57, Muralitharan 5-79) and 254 for 4
(Sarwan 102, Chanderpaul 86*) beat Sri Lanka 278 (Silva
76, Dilshan 62, Edwards 4-84) and 268 (Samaraweera 125,
Taylor 4-52) by six wickets
Scorecard
A
match that swung between West Indies and Sri Lanka , each
side clawing back into contention when the other had the
upper hand, was decided by an innings of exemplary application
from Ramnaresh Sarwan. His partnership of 157 with Shivnarine
Chanderpaul - during which he scored a century - on the
fourth day won the match for West Indies and levelled the
series, ensuring Sri Lanka's quest for a maiden series triumph
in the Caribbean remained unfulfilled. The six-wicket win
was West Indies' first at the Queen's Park Oval since 2000.
A
target of 253 over two days with ten wickets in hand wasn't
the most daunting but only twice had teams chased higher
totals to win in Trinidad. Add to that the unpredictability
of the West Indian batting order and the Chaminda Vaas-Muttiah
Muralitharan factor and the task was anything but simple.
The fourth day began with Sri Lanka taking early wickets
before Sarwan started the recovery effort, single-handedly
at first, later finding a steady partner in Chanderpaul,
who remained unbeaten on 86 at the end.
Sri
Lanka were banking on the wizardry of Muralitharan to run
through the batting order but he was blunted by the patient
approach of Sarwan and Chanderpaul. Not until the final
stages did Sri Lanka's bowlers give it up but the pressure
created by Vaas and Muralitharan was not sustained by the
inexperienced support cast of Thilan Thushara and Ishara
Amerasinghe, which allowed the batsmen to score steadily
without having to look to hit boundaries.
It
was fitting that Sarwan sealed victory with a hundred because
he had scored three consecutive half-centuries in the series.
West Indies needed a century from one of their batsmen and
Sarwan did not throw it away after passing fifty. He started
fluently, flicking and cutting Thushara to the boundary,
and eventually hit him out of the attack by taking three
fours - two straight drives and a leg glance - off his eighth
over. Against Vaas, Sarwan stayed in his crease and gave
himself time to drive the ball through the off side while
his team-mates struggled on the front foot.
He
was reprieved early in his innings by Tillakaratne Dilshan,
who missed the stumps at the non-striker's end with Sarwan
well short. Had he hit, one sensed that the chase would
have been over, for apart from Sarwan's fluent innings the
batsmen looked edgy. Even Chanderpaul had testing moments
against Vaas, who caught the left-hander by surprise with
a couple of deliveries that reared sharply off a good length.
The
pair steered West Indies to 93 for 3 when rain forced the
umpires to take an early lunch, giving Vaas and Muralitharan
an hour to recharge. On resumption, they offered few scoring
opportunities but Sarwan and Chanderpaul were up for the
challenge. Chanderpaul concentrated on rotating the strike,
often moving forward and across to work the ball through
the leg side for singles and twos. He had a calming influence
on Sarwan, who brought up his fifty with a slog-swept four
followed by a cut towards point, and talked him through
lapses in concentration such as a slash past the slips off
Amerasinghe.
Sarwan
used the cut effectively against the fast bowlers, forcing
Mahela Jayawardene to put a fielder on the point boundary
and successfully negotiated the threat posed by Muralitharan;
he consistently worked him for ones and twos and occasionally
moved out of his crease to hit him over midwicket or drive
him straight down the ground. Sarwan was more positive as
he moved towards his hundred, swatting Thushara twice from
outside off stump to the wide mid-on boundary and the Trinidad
crowd grew louder as they sensed a West Indian win.
A
significant psychological barrier was crossed when Chanderpaul
drove a full toss from Amerasinghe to the cover boundary
to bring the runs required below 100. Another shower made
the players take tea early, with Sarwan on 95, but when
play resumed he reached his tenth Test hundred by sweeping
Muralitharan to the long-leg boundary. By then, Chanderpaul
was doing most of the scoring, repeatedly cutting and driving
Vaas and Amerasinghe through the off side. Sarwan was eventually
caught at bat-pad off Muralitharan for 102 but, with only
23 to get, the match was nearly won.
The
game looked like it would be a lot closer during the morning
session when West Indies' openers, Chris Gayle and Sewnarine
Chattergoon, began tentatively. West Indies lost Gayle on
23 when he tried to slog Thushara. The ball moved away from
him and the outside edge flew over point where Dilshan ran
backwards to take the catch. Chattergoon fell in the next
over, misjudging the line of a straighter one from Vaas
and was trapped plumb in front.
At
24 for 2, Marlon Samuels joined Sarwan and they added 49,
although Samuels looked out of sorts. He moved too far across
his stumps against Vaas and survived several lbw shouts
when the ball swung back and hit his pads. He eventually
spooned a slower one to Malinda Warnapura at point. The
match was in the balance at 73 for 3 but the three-hour
partnership between Sarwan and Chanderpaul shut Sri Lanka
out of the contest.
Courtesy - cricinfo
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