Windies ‘A’ bowlers strike back

COLOMBO: West Indies “A” fought back gallantly to gain a slender first innings lead on the third day of their third unofficial “Test” against Sri Lanka “A” yesterday. Their batsmen then turned in a steady performance to give them the edge, and leave the final day of the four-day match at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium interestingly poised. Fast bowler Dwight Washington grabbed three wickets while medium pacer Kenroy Peters and left arm spinner Nikita Miller grabbed two each, as Sri Lanka “A” were dismissed for 312 in reply to the visitors’ 324, losing their last seven wickets for 131 runs after resuming at 181 for three.

Batting a second time, opener Lendl Simmons struck a half-century as the West Indies reached 114 for four at the close, an overall lead of 126 with six wickets standing. Washington got the early breakthrough when he prised out top scorer Shantha Kalavitigoda in the day’s third over, after he had added just one to his overnight 74, to leave Sri Lanka 188 for four. Test batsman Russell Arnold, unbeaten on five overnight, fell to Peters soon afterward for 16 with the score on 194 and when Washington had Prasanna Jayawardene caught by Darren Sammy without scoring, Sri Lanka had lost three wickets for 13 runs in the first 36 minutes of play. But Danushka Dilhara stopped the rut for Sri Lanka with a well played 57 from 94 balls, including five fours and one six, and shared a 59-run, seventh wicket stand with Farveez Maharoof who scored 16 before being run out.

When Nuwan Zoysa fell for one and Dilhara finally departed to leave Sri Lanka 256 for nine, Sajeewa Weerakoon smashed an unbeaten 27 from 35 balls with six fours and shared a 38-run last wicket stand to propel the score past 300. Washington claimed three for 31, Peters took two for 43 while Miller snared two for 73. West Indies “A” then lost Tishan Maraj for nine with the score on 24 but Simmons and captain Daren Ganga combined for a second wicket stand of 45 that pushed the score to 69. Simmons hit 52 from 109 balls with six fours and a six while Ganga’s 23 came from 58 balls with two fours and a six. When Ganga fell, Marlon Samuels (16) joined Simmons to add 32 for the third wicket. However, Weerakoon claimed both with his left arm spin in the space of five overs, nine runs apart, to leave the final day interestingly poised. Weerakoon has two for 28. (CMC)