Chandana 89, steers Sri Lanka to victory

BRIDGETOWN: All-rounder Upul Chandana hit a sizzling, career-best 89 off 71 balls to trump West Indies captain Brian Lara’s fine century and lead Sri Lanka to a  four-wicket victory with three balls to spare yesterday. The slim Chandana lashed six fours and four sixes to power the visitors to their victory target of 313 for six off 49.3 overs. Lara’s 17th one-day century, a brilliant 116 off 106 deliveries, was the backbone of the West Indies’ 312 for four off 50 overs. Chris Gayle hit a composed 94 off 125 balls while Marlon Samuels (56 not out off 36 balls) powered a late charge that realised 136 runs off the last 11 overs. But Sri Lanka, with solid contributions from their top order and Chandana’s heroics, secured a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Sri Lanka beat the West Indies by 55 runs on Saturday. Openers Romesh Kaluwitharana (34) and Sanath Jayasuriya (41) laid an excellent platform with an opening stand of 71 in the first 11 overs.
 
But the West Indies regained the initiative at 78 for two when Jayasuriya fell to Samuels’ off-spin and Kaluwitharana was run out by Ricardo Powell’s direct hit from square leg. Captain Marvan Atapattu (47) and left-hander Kumar Sangakkara (31) rebuilt the challenge with a further stand of 75 for the third wicket before they too fell in quick succession. Atapattu was cut short by Ramnaresh Sarwan’s pinpoint throw from the deep as the batsman chased a third run, while Sangakkara swatted Vasbert Drakes to deep square leg. Again, Sri Lanka’s innings was at the crossroads at 192 for four in the 35th over. Enter Chandana, a journeyman in his 104th one-dayer and with only two half centuries to his credit. The wiry right-hander took a few overs to settle in before he silenced the massive crowd with a number of meaty strokes. Mahela Jayawardene, struggling for form, was content to play the anchor role and contributed an important 32 off 40 balls as his partner blazed away at the other end. Chandana reached his half century off 47 balls and soon rode his luck as his third six just fell out of Wavell Hinds’ grasp over the boundary at midwicket. The tension was lifted further with a short break for rain  at 250 for four in the 43rd over. On resumption, the Sri Lankan pair continued to flourish  and brought up a century fifth wicket stand off just 64 balls.

Chandana was missed twice off successive balls late as Ryan Hurley and substitute David Bernard grassed chances in the deep off Drakes. The West Indies finally hung onto a catch as Chandana clipped a catch to Powell at deep midwicket off Corey Collymore with Sri Lanka still needing 20 off 15 balls. Drakes accounted for Jayawardene at 301 for six but the visitors were well on their way by then. Tillakaratne Dilshan’s unbeaten 13 off eight balls helped the cause and Kumar Dharmasena hit the winning runs with three balls to go. Earlier, Lara added 137 off 26 overs for the second wicket with Gayle to lay the platform for West Indies’ big total. Samuels and Lara then launched a volley of strokes to put on 109 off just 56 balls for the fourth wicket. All the Sri Lankan bowlers were caught in the carnage. The West Indies skipper passed three figures off 94 balls, with eight fours and two sixes, adding one more four before he fell late in the innings. It was Lara’s second century against Sri Lanka and also his second on the ground. His innings also puts him level on 17 centuries with Desmond Haynes as the leading West Indian century-maker in one-day cricket. The 22-year-old Samuels, who completed his half century off 30 deliveries, smacked six fours and a six. It was the highest total on the ground in 17 one-dayers, beating England’s 293 for five against the West Indies in 1998. It was a record not to last out the day. Sri Lanka’s victory target matched their best run chase in  one-dayers, the 313 for seven to beat Zimbabwe in New Plymouth in 1992. 

    
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES vs SRI LANKA
West Indies inns:

C Gayle run out 94
W Hinds LBW b Vaas 10
B Lara c Jayasuriya b Nissanka 116
R Sarwan run out 3
M Samuels not out 56
R Powell not out 9
EXTRAS (LB3, W15, NB6) 24
Total for four wickets (50 overs) 312
DID NOT BAT: R Jacobs, R Hurley, V Drakes, M Dillon, C Collymore.
Fall of wickets: 30; 167; 174; 283.
BOWLING: Vaas 10-4-33-1 (NB2, W2); Nissanka 10-0-67-1 (NB1, W5); Dharmasena 8-0-54-0; Muralitharan 10-1-53-0 (NB2, W1); Jayasuriya 6-0-51-0 (W1); Chandana 4-0-40-0; Dilshan 2-0-11-0.

Sri Lanka inns:
R Kaluwitharana run out 34
S Jayasuriya c Drakes b Samuels 41
M Atapattu run out 47
K Sangakkara c Hinds b Drakes 31
U Chandana c Powell b Collymore 89
M Jayawardene c Lara b Drakes 32
T Dilshan not out 13
K Dharmasena not out 3
EXTRAS (LB5, W12, NB6) 23
Total for six wickets (49.3 overs) 313
DID NOT BAT: C Vaas, M Muralitharan, P Nissanka.
Fall of wickets: 71; 78; 153; 192; 293; 301.
BOWLING: Dillon 10-0-66-0 (NB1, W1); Collymore 9.3-0-51-1 (NB1, W1); Samuels 10-0-50-1 (W2); Hurley 5-0-29-0; Gayle 5-0-40-0 (W2); Drakes 7-1-49-2 (NB4, W1); Sarwan 1-0-5-0 (W1); Hinds 2-0-18-0 (W1).