24.3.2008
The Bulletin by Jamie Alter
West Indies v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Guyana, 2nd day

Tea Sri Lanka 418 for 6 (Mahela Jayawardene 120*, Vaas 26*) v West Indies
scorecard

Slowly but surely Mahela Jayawardene ground West Indies down at the Providence Stadium, hosting its maiden Test, with his first century against them and sixth overseas. Scoring was painfully slow - 61 came in the first session and 88 in the second - but with only two wickets lost all day Sri Lanka took tea on 418 for 6 and left the hosts with all the catching up to do.

From the time he came to the middle it was evident Mahela wanted to play an innings for the long haul. It was a disciplined hundred, shorn of risks and flashy shots, and efficiently extended Sri Lanka's dominance. With the track being so sluggish it was a bit hard to force the ball away - Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell bowled very well in the first session - and Mahela relied on singles and the odd double as they came.

There weren't a lot of runs scored in the first two hours but importantly for Sri Lanka Mahela played himself in. Taylor was the only bowler to really offer any threat, removing Tillakaratne Dilshan early, but West Indies were let down by some ordinary fielding.

Some edges went agonisingly close to being caught, some should have been caught, and some shots were just superbly timed. Mahela was also the recipient of a life, when on 39 he cut hard and Chris Gayle watched the thick edge fly to his right at slip. Sulieman Benn was denied a maiden Test wicket on that occasion but he was also to blame soon after as he misjudged a chance off Prasanna Jayawardene, who mistimed a pull off Powell to midwicket.

One sweetly-timed straight drive was about as stylish as Mahela got. Otherwise it was soft-handed dabs and tucks to square leg or midwicket. His half-century under his belt, Mahela added 53 with Prasanna and an unbeaten 87 with Chaminda Vaas after Powell struck with the second new ball just after lunch.

There were no extravagant shots as Mahela worked his way through the 80s and 90s, except for one classical flick across the line off Taylor. Mahela had been run out on 99 against the same opposition in Galle in 2001but this time he scampered down the pitch hurriedly to reach his 22nd Test hundred before tea. It took 189 deliveries, seven more than Malinda Warnapura's had, but was no less significant. Sri Lanka clearly wanted to bat just once and Mahela did his best to ensure that.

Vaas was the beneficiary of two lives in the slips; the first flew between third and gully and the second was put down by Devon Smith at third. Vaas made West Indies pay with a dogged 26 from 97 balls to help his captain past three figures and his team past 400.

Taylor and Powell created numerous opportunities but were grossly let down by their fielders. On such a docile track a first Test win in the Caribbean is a ways away for Sri Lanka but with Muttiah Muralitharan in the wings anything is possible.


Courtesy - Cricinfo