Sri Lankans chase 3-0 sweep

KINGSTOWN: West Indies cricket fans in Barbados could hardly believe their eyes as their team allowed Sri Lanka to score 315 for victory last Sunday.  After a breath-taking century by skipper Brian Lara, the home side should have been capable of levelling the series at 1-1. But poor bowling and fielding has left them facing a dead rubber and question marks over their temperament.

“We seem to be wanting under pressure” was Lara’s assessment. “We put down a couple of chances in the closing overs and that cost us the match. We have to learn from our mistakes,” he said. Now the task for West Indies is to restore confidence ahead of the two Test matches. But the task of trying to prevent a 3-0 whitewash in the one-dayers has not been made any easier by the decision to leave new ball bowler Merv Dillon out of the squad.  The selectors have called up 18-year-old Jerome Taylor as his replacement, a player with only one senior appearance in domestic one-day cricket behind him.  It may be, however, that Daren Powell is the more likely replacement in the final eleven.

He has been biding his time since four Test appearances and a single One-Day International last year and is overdue another chance.  Sri Lanka have, perhaps, exceeded their own expectations, having had only one warm-up match at the start of the tour after batting badly in a recent triangular series against New Zealand and Pakistan.  Marvan Atapattu’s decision to drop to number three and reinstate Romesh Kaluwitharana at the top of the order has paid off.   And winning the series has taken some of the pressure off Atapattu, who is still finding his feet as captain after Sanath Jayasuriya’s decision to give up the job. “We live in a nation where cricket is almost a religion. Expectations are always high, especially with the batting,” he said. “I was under a bit of pressure before I came here and I was trying not to pass this on to the others. But hopefully this will get easier now.” The key innings in the second innings was played by Upul Chandana, who flogged 89 off 71 balls and Atapattu is not about to tell his players to rein themselves in. “It is best to let the batsmen play their natural game.  “The last match was satisfying, but I won’t be walking six inches off the ground saying our batting has clicked or anything like that. I’m looking for consistency.”

West Indies (from): Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Marlon Samuels, Ricardo Powell, Omari Banks, Vasbert Drakes, Ridley Jacobs, Corey Collymore, David Bernard, Wavell Hinds, Ryan Hurley, Daren Powell and Jerome Taylor.
Sri Lanka (from): Squad: Marvan Atapattu (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (vice-captain), Romesh Kaluwitharana, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Naveed Nawaz, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Dharshana Gamage, Prabath Nissanka, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Kumar Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Dinusha Fernando.