Captain bravado keeps Sri Lanka alive

Sri Lankan skipper Dinesh Chandimal won the toss and elected to bat first in the 2nd Test of the three match series at Gros Islet, St. Lucia. 

He himself was out there sooner than he expected with Sri Lanka in a spot of bother at 3/59. By the time he walked off the field though, he had guided his team to a respectable total on a challenging surface with a century to remember.

Read: Two forced changes as Mathews returns home ahead of 2nd Test

Sri Lanka was dealt a severe blow ahead of the match when former Test skipper and vital middle order batsman Angelo Mathews, withdrew from the squad to be in Sri Lanka for the birth of his second child. Fast bowler Lahiru Gamage also returned along with Mathews, after he suffered an injury (fractured finger) while batting in the 1st Test. Danushka Gunathilaka and Dasun Shanaka were named as replacements and joined the squad a couple of hours away from the Test match, almost ruling them out of the match.

Kasun Rajitha replaced Gamage for his Test debut, while Dhananjaya de Silva replaced Mathews as the forced changes in the XI, while Sri Lanka threw caution to the wind by axing their experienced spin duo in Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera after the loss in the opening Test of the series. The team composition also changed with Sri Lanka deciding to play an extra batsman with Mahela Udawatte being handed a Test debut, while Akila Dananjaya  was the other replacement to the line up from the first Test.

Mahela Udawatte(00) had a horror start to his Test career when a rising Shannon Gabriel delivery found his outside edge, off only the second ball he faced, with Jason Holder clinging on to a good low catch at second slip.

Dhananjaya de Silva who missed the first Test after arriving late in the West Indies due to the sudden demise of his father, walked in at number three and looked in good touch, before a vicious delivery from Gabriel took off and ricocheted off his back arm to the stumps, to see him go down in pain and walk back to the pavilion for a brisk 12 off just 14 balls. The two Kusal’s – Perera & Mendis – put on a useful 44 runs for the third wicket, before Kemar Roach found the outside edge of Perera(32), off the first ball of his second spell, which brought Chandimal to the middle to survive a tricky period on the stroke of lunch.

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Chandimal along with the other Sri Lankan batsmen were peppered with plenty of chin music by the hostile West Indian pace attack led by the large frame of Gabriel. The captain seemed to be the only man who could withstand the West Indian bowlers as he watched his partners come and go.

67 runs for the fourth wicket with Mendis – who made 45 – was the only noteworthy stand, as it was Chandimal versus the West Indian bowlers for most parts of the innings. Sri Lanka slid to 206/8 quickly and Chandimal’s century seemed a distance away. Debutante Kasun Rajitha held one end up brilliantly putting on 31 for the 9th wicket as he hung around for his skipper to go pass the three figure mark.

Chandimal fittingly got to his century with a controlled outside edge to the third-man boundary, after he was battered and bruised for most parts of his innings. Funny enough that was a feature of his innings as most of his boundaries (4×10, 6×1) came behind the wicket, before he launched a six over long-off, off the bowling of Kemar Roach, giving memories of the Chandimal of old.

He was dropped early on in his innings by Devon Smith when he was on 14, before he got another reprieve just before Sri Lanka was all-out when he was dismissed but called back as Kemar Roach had over stepped. Lahiru Kumara was dismissed a couple of balls later as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 253 with their brave skipper remaining unbeaten on 119*.

Shannon Gabriel was a much different bowler who showed plenty of discipline to capture a five wicket haul, while Roach cleaned up the tail to end up with four wickets as West Indies put up another brilliant bowling display.

SL – 253/10 (79 overs) Dinesh Chandimal 119*, Kusal Mendis 45, Shannon Gabriel 5/59, Kemar Roach 4/49

WI – 02/0 (2)