Dowrich and fast bowlers put the Windies ahead

A match defining ton from Shane Dowrich and a few valuable cameos from the tail-enders guided the hosts, West Indies, to a formidable first innings total of 414 before declaring their innings in the latter part of the day. Sri Lankans were given 16 overs to survive and they were 31 for 3 at stumps on day two of the 1st Test Match at Queens Park Oval, West Indies.

It was a brilliant day of Test cricket. Top class seam bowling, stubborn batting resistance and typical Sri Lankan defensive captaincy. It is fair to say the hosts dominated day 2 while the visiting Sri Lankans toiled hard until the end of the day.

With only 246 runs on board for the loss of 6 wickets, the Windies were in a spot of bother. The Lankans would have fancied their chances to bundle them out under 350 but their approach said otherwise. Lakmal and Kumara had the ball talking early on but Dowrich and Bishoo had the luck running in favour of them.

The pair got through the tough first hour and that was all for the 1st session as the heavens opened up and washed up the rest of the session. After the resumption however, skipper Dinesh Chandimal was found wanting for some attacking captaincy. It was a typical approach of the Lankan captain in the recent past, just letting things flow and trying not to force the matter. The bowlers however toiled hard once again. They didn’t let the batsmen get away with easy runs and that kept the run rate under control right throughout the second session.

Even though Lakmal got the better of Bishoo after a stubborn 40 off 160 balls, it was Shane Dowrich who stole the spotlight with his match defining test ton. It was his second and it was also the highest ever score by a West Indian wicket keeper against Sri Lanka.

The hosts came out in the 3rd session with intent. Kemar Roach managed to hit a few lusty blows as he added a quick fire 39 to take Windies to a formidable total of 414 runs for their first innings. Lahiru Kumara was the pick of the bowlers in his comeback test match with figures of 4 for 95.

His mammoth spell of 31 overs had real venom and spice which caused a lot of trouble to the batsmen. Lakmal too bowled brilliantly but the spinners could not find any assistance from the pitch which was expected to become slower as the game progressed.

The visitors had 16 overs to survive before close of play. Once again, the seamers were simply on fire. The hostile bowling of the Windies seamers had the Sri Lankan top order jumping and ducking for dear life. Kusal Perera perished for a golden duck and his partner Kusal Mendis nicked one straight to 2nd slip for 4. It was up to the two most experienced players of the side to see off the day, but matters went from bad to worse as Angelo Mathews was caught in the slips off the bowling of Jason Holder.

The visitors were in a tight spot at stumps at 31 for 3, trailing by 383 runs. Skipper Chandimal and Roshen Silva will resume play tomorrow with a huge responsibility on their shoulders.