West Indies will take on Sri Lanka in the second and final Test of the two-match series in Antigua from Monday, March 29.
The first Test between West Indies and Sri Lanka at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium saw a tight contest, with the game ultimately ending in an exciting draw.
While the Calypso Kings enjoyed a wood over their opposition in the first half of the match, the Asian giants fought back and put the home team under great pressure in the second.
Middle-order batsman Nkrumah Bonner was the hero on the final day for West Indies as he struck a magnificent century to help the home team come out unscathed.
Bonner’s debut Test century – an unbeaten knock of 113 runs off 274 deliveries, including thirteen fours and one maximum – was an admirable effort in seeing through the last few sessions of the Test in Antigua.
Apart from Bonner, Kyle Mayers, who made a name for himself with his hundred in that terrific run-chase in Chattogram recently, contributed a solid fifty (52) towards his team’s cause as West Indies finished with 236/4 from their 100 overs in the second innings.
Vishwa Fernando (2/73) and Lasith Embuldeniya (2/62) picked up a couple of wickets in the second innings, but the Sri Lankans needed someone to break the game open completely with a stand-out spell. Not even the experienced Suranga Lakmal (0/33), who had bagged a five-for in the first essay to pull the game back for Sri Lanka, could provide it.
Besides Lakmal, whose spell of 5/57 helped the visitors dismiss West Indies for just 271 in the earlier half and restrict their first-innings lead to a manageable 102 runs, Lahiru Thirimanne (76), Oshada Fernando (91), Dhananjaya de Silva (50), Niroshan Dickwella (96) and debutant centurion Pathum Nissanka (103) were Sri Lanka’s other saviours in the game. Their herculean effort with the bat in the second half allowed Sri Lanka to bounce back and post a total of 476, setting up a difficult target of 375.
The hosts will rue the fact that they didn’t take a more intimidating lead in the first innings when a lot of their top 7 batters – John Campbell (42), Bonner (31), Mayers (45), Joshua Da Silva (46) – got starts but no one played a substantial knock. Lower-order batsman Rahkeem Cornwall (61) top-scored with a solid fifty that pushed West Indies’ lead past the 100-mark.
On Day 1, when West Indies had won the toss and opted to bowl, pacer Pacers Kemar Roach (3/47) and Jason Holder (5/27) were their two most exceptional bowlers on show as the hosts dismissed the visitors for just 169 runs. Only Thirimanne (70) had managed to survive for a length of time among the Sri Lankan batters.
A similar see-saw battle is in the offing in the second Test where two flawed but talented sides will be locking horns for series honours.
Key Players
Jason Holder has been one of the world’s premier Test all-rounders for the last few years. Since 2018, Holder has made 934 runs at a batting average of 37.36 and taken 68 wickets at a bowling average of 18.63 – his record since being better than his career tally as he has an overall batting average of 32.11 with 2,152 runs and a bowling average of 27.34 for 121 scalps. His five-for in the first Test was a befitting example of Holder’s improvement.
Kemar Roach is a fantastic exponent of swing and seam movement. The experienced right-arm paceman, who has overcome injury issues to become a more consistent weapon, delivered spells of 3/47 and 3/74 in the first Test in Antigua. Roach has now played 62 Tests for the West Indies with 211 wickets at an average of 27.68, including nine five-wicket hauls.
Lahiru Thirimanne was Sri Lanka’s most consistent batsmen in the first Test in Antigua, with his batting as potent in the first innings as it was in the second. Thirimanne, whose career has been otherwise plagued with technical issues and inconsistency in performances, gradually comes into his own and produces his best. He batted 180 balls for his knock of 70 runs in the first half and then stayed at the crease for 201 deliveries for his 76 in the second. Thirimanne was key to Sri Lanka managing to bounce back in the Test match.
Suranga Lakmal bowled a terrific spell of 5/47 in the first innings of the first Test and showcased once again what a lethal wicket-taker he can be when the surface is offering some seam movement to the pacers. Lakmal, who had question marks raised over his skill and record for a major part of his early Test career, is now a bowler transformed. He is bowling more consistently than ever to both left and the right-hand batsmen. Since the start of 2018, Lakmal has taken 60 wickets at an average of 24.11, including three five-wicket hauls, from 36 innings.
Prediction
While both teams forced each other to go through the fire to gain a semblance of ascendancy in the first Test, West Indies still have the advantage of home conditions in their favour.
The visitors will know, despite their admirable comeback in Antigua, that the hosts were about another session of batting short of taking the game away from them in the first half itself.
Thus, it will require a special effort in either department from the Sri Lankans to pull off a victory in the second Test of a series, for which the West Indies started as favourites.
