West Indies captain Brian Lara led from the front with a magnificent century but a pathetic late afternoon performance from his team ensured Sri Lanka won the three-match Cable and Wireless One-Day-International series with a four-wicket victory in the second match yesterday at the Kensington Oval.
The 34-year-old Lara hammered nine fours and two sixes in a sublime knock of 116 from 106 balls and shared in century partnerships with Chris Gale who made 94 and Marlon Samuels, who hit a shot filled unbeaten 56 as the West Indies amassed 312-4 in their allotted 50 overs.
Sri Lanka, propelled by a positive 71 run start in 10 overs from openers Romesh Kaluwitharana and former captain Sanath Jayasuriya and a blistering 89 from Upal Chandana, reached 313-6, the highest one-day total ever scored at Kensington Oval in 17 matches, to win with three balls to spare.
This was Sri Lanka’s highest run chase equaling the 313 they made to beat Zimbabwe in the 1992 world cup.
Catches win matches and yesterday the West Indies floored six, missed a stumping chance and wasted two easy run-out opportunities as they crumbled under pressure like startled school boys as Sri Lanka maintained a hectic run-rate throughout their innings.
On Saturday the West Indies bowled well and batted poorly. Yesterday they scored at six runs per over but panicked as Sri Lanka closed in on an unexpected victory failing to demonstrate the type of mental toughness and professionalism required at this level.
While Kaluwitharana played the supporting role, the ultra aggressive Jayasuriya tore into the new ball pair of Mervin Dillon and Cory Collymore with shots all around the ground to halt the festivities in the stands.
Jayasuriya hit Collymore for a flat six over cover to bring up the 50 in the eighth over forcing Lara to introduce the spin of Samuels inside the first 10 overs.
Despite the defeat, Lara’s captaincy was again good yesterday and his ploy to use Samuels was rewarded with the wicket of the dangerous Jayasuriya in the eleventh over, caught at point by Vasbert Drakes for 41 from 35 balls with five fours and a six.
It was soon 78-2 in the next over when Kaluwitharana, who hit three fours from 36 balls in his cameo 34, was brilliantly run out with a direct hit from Ricardo Powell at square leg.
Kumar Sangakkara was badly dropped by Gayle at slip on five with the score on 91-2 before skipper Marvin Atapattu clipped Dillon off his leg for a six in the same over to post the 100 in the eighteenth over.
Ridley Jacobs missed a difficult leg side stumping to let off Sangakkara (11) off Samuels at 114-2.
The visitors reached 153 from 28 overs before a spectacular throw from Sarwan at third man scored a direct hit with Atapattu short of his ground.
His 47 came from 54 balls and included a single six.
Vasbert Drakes, kept back by Lara until the thirty-fifth over, struck in his first over when Sangakkara was taken by Wavell Hinds at deep square leg at 192-4. He hit 31 from 56 balls with one four.
Chandana and Mahela Jayawardene played positively and ran aggressively between the wickets to keep their team’s hopes alive before rain halted play at 250-4 in the forty-third over.
Although Sri Lanka needed to score at 8.59 per over to win at that stage, the controversial Duckworth Lewis system would have given them the game if there was no further play since they needed to be 237-4 in 43 overs if play was washed out.
Even before the stoppage, both teams knew the about the target as the calculation sheet was sent out to Lara and the batsmen.
With this in mind Lara tried to get in the overs quickly by bringing back his spinners but Gayle give away 16 in one over to put the tourists ahead at the rain break.
Sarwan bowled one over before the stoppage but with the sun back out when play resumed Drakes was asked to continue.
Chandana smashed him for four and swiped him for six in the forty-fifth over which cost 15 runs, while two-run out opportunities were wasted as the West Indies buckled under the pressure.
Jacobs failed to reach the wicket with Chandana stranded and Drakes missed at close range when all he needed to do was dive forward
and take off the bails.
Urged on by the crowd with 36 runs needed in the last five overs the West Indies appeared to panic and Chandana was dropped twice off Drakes in the forty-sixth over, by Hurley at deep square leg at 285 and substitute David Bernard at long on at 289.
A few fumbles in the field helped the Sri Lankans close in on the
target as the crowd was stunned into silence.
There was a deafening roar when Chandana swung Collymore to Powell on the mid wicket boundary and was taken at 294-5 in the forty-eight over.
Chandana’s 89 was aided by five fours and three sixes and even at that stage the game was still wide open.
Jayawardene was removed by Drakes for 32 with the score on 301-6 in the penultimate over which cost 13 runs to end a poor bowling performance from one of the team’s most experienced players.
Everyone was on their feet when Collymore began the final over with four runs to win. The first ball resulted in a single while the next was a leg-side wide.
With all eight fielders inside the circle and two needed to win, Kumar Dharmasena lifted Collymore to the boundary to win the game with three balls to spare much to the disgust of West Indies supporters.
Earlier, Hurley replaced Bernard in the West Indies team and Lara once again won the toss, this time electing to bat first in cool conditions.
Although the ball beat the bat on a few occasions as pacers Chaminda Vaas and Prabath Nissanka got the ball to bounce with good pace, the openers give the West Indies a slow, but solid start.
Gayle and Hinds added 30 in 10 overs before Hinds was LBW to Vaas to make way for the arrival of Lara.
The West Indies captain, who surprisingly batted at number five in
Saturday’s game, was greeted with a resounding roar from a crowd not as large, but just as vocal, as the one for Saturday’s game.
Lara survived a confident caught behind appeal off Vaas from the second ball he received but his presence seemed to inspire Gayle.
The Jamaican crashed Nissanka for a flat six over point and pulled him for two savage fours before Nissanka responded with a nasty lifter with the final ball of an eventful over which Gayle awkwardly fended away.
Gayle greeted off spinner Dharmasena who replaced Nissanka with a boundary to mid wicket as the West Indies scored 20 runs in three overs to reach 50-1 in the fourteenth over.
Gayle reached his nineteenth one-day fifty and celebrated by hitting leg-spinner Chandana back over his head for six as the West Indies innings gained momentum.
Chandana conceded 16 runs from his first two overs in contrast to Vaas (8-0-13-0) and the danger-man Muralitharan (3-0-7-0) from the first 25 overs.
The 100 was posted at the half-way stage of the innings with the second 50 coming from 10 overs as Gayle and Lara increased the overall run rate to four runs per over.
With Lara playing the supporting role to Gayle and the West Indies on 117-1 from 28 overs Muralitharan was brought back to put the brakes on the scoring.
While Muralitharan troubled the batsmen, Gayle smashed left arm spinner Jayasuriya for consecutive boundaries at the other end. And, with his confidence high, hammered Muralitharan for boundaries off the first two balls of he next over to bring up the 150 in 33.3 overs.
Lara’s fifty-third one-day half-century was soon posted from 64 balls but it was Gayle who continued to pound the bowling, hitting a glorious cover driven boundary off Nissanka who was re-introduced as the run rate, like the Mexican waves and the noise around the ground, increased.
When six away from his sixth one-day hundred Gayle was run out after hitting 12 fours and two sixes from 125 balls and the home team were 167-2 in the thirty-seventh over.
The 137-run second-wicket partnership was a long way away from the 331 record second wicket partnership in one-day cricket by Sachin Tendulkar (186*) and Rahul Dravid (153) made against Sri Lanka in 1999. But it equalled the 137 made between Richie Richardson and Phil Simmons as the highest second wicket stand by West Indies against Sri Lanka.
Sarwan, ranked the number two batsman in one-day cricket was soon run out for three at 174-3 in the thirty-eight over.
With 12 overs left in the innings Marlon Samuels walked out to join his captain and immediately set Kensington on fire with an explosive array of shots.
He took 21 runs with three fours and a six in the second over he faced as the expensive Chandana was mauled for 40 runs in his four overs.
Lara changed gear in the next over with a four and a six off successive balls from Jayasuriya as West Indies upped the tempo in the last 10 overs.
Two magnificent off side boundaries and an effortless six over extra cover off Dharmasena in the forty-third over from Lara sent the crowd wild with delight.
Even the great Muralitharan could not escape punishment towards the end of the innings as Lara clobbered him for two fours in the forty-fourth over to move to 99.
The sound system blared ‘Rally round the West Indies’, the ecstatic crowd jumped, waved flags and chanted their captain’s name as the police cordoned off the boundaries in anticipation of Lara’s seventeenth one-day century.
It came with a flick for two and it was `Laramania’ at Kensington. Lara’s ton came form 94 balls and was decorated with seven fours and two sixes.
Lara `slogged swept’ Muralitharan for his ninth four as the off spinner finished with 0-53 from 10 overs as 43 runs came from his first last six overs.
Nissanka was brought back and had Lara caught at mid wicket looking to go over the top to end his 109 run third wicket stand with Samuels. Lara’s 116 lasted 106 balls and included nine fours and two sixes and the home team were 283-4 in 47.1 overs.
Samuels got to his tenth one-day fifty and brought back memories of his only one-day ton, made in India last year.
Samuels who hit five fours from 36 balls in his unbeaten 56, and
Powell ( nine from four balls with two fours) saw their team to their fourth 300 total against Sri Lanka in 37 matches.
Vaas with 1-33 from 10 overs, was the only Sri Lankan to concede less than five runs per over as the West Indies piled up the highest one-day total at Kensington in 17 matches, surpassing the 293-5 made by India in 1998.
In the end Sri Lanka bettered that record with consummate ease leaving the final game which starts on Wednesday in St Vincent only of academic interest as the West Indies once again hope for a meaningless victory with the series already lost.