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Vaas bowls SL to
maiden Test Victory in the Caribbean |
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Sri Lanka hung onto a nervous maiden test
victory in the Caribbean after overcoming
several obstacles on the final day's play at the
Providence Stadium. The West Indies' Captain
Chris Gayle, who had demoted himself to the
middle order held the fort almost till the end
with the support of the tail. But Sri Lanka
through Chaminda Vaas could achieve their much
deserved victory by having Gayle stranded at one
end.
The visitors had given a difficult target of
437 for West Indies. The homeside looked to be
on track to even threaten to chase the target
down after makeshift opener Dwayne Bravo and
Ramnaresh Sarwan got going. Muttiah Muralitharan
rescued his side by removing Bravo (83 from 169
balls with 10 fours and a six) to end the
century stand for the second wicket. Windies
lost the plot when its experienced batsmen
Samuels and Chanderpaul fell in quick succession
to Vaas after lunch.
As the partnership between Sarwan and Gayle
started to develop, things looked promising for
the Windies to draw the Test Match. Fortunately
for the Lankans, they got their breaks at the
right time. First left arm swing bowler got rid
of Sarwan (72 from 206 balls with 3 fours) and
then two more wickets fell quickly leaving Gayle
with just the tail. Gayle prolonged the fight
with the help of Jerome Taylor, who lasted for
nearly an hour and then with the last man Daren
Powell. Sri Lanka got to their victory
eventually when Muttiah Muralitharan took an
absolute blinder by jumping backwards to hold
onto a skier offered by a helpless no. 11 Daren
Powell. The West Indian Captain got stranded at
the other end on 51 but what were significant
were the near 4 hours of stay along with the 131
balls that he had survived. It was Chaminda Vaas'
day as he finished with match-winning figures of
5 for 61 in 22.2 overs. He was also the Man of
the Match.
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