Thilan Samaraweera smacked a brilliant 125 to rescue a wobbling Sri Lanka on Saturday and set West Indies 253 to win the second cricket Test and save the series.
The visitors, 1-0 up in the two-Test series, were bowled out for a second time on the last ball of the third day for 268 to leave West Indies with two days to make a challenging victory target at Queen’s Park Oval.
Samaraweera and Chaminda Vaas shared a seventh-wicket stand of 138 that pulled Sri Lanka from peril at 99-for-six.
PHOTO: AFP
Samaraweera crafted his sixth test hundred in five hours from 199 balls and struck 18 boundaries.
Veteran Vaas contributed 45 spanning 114 balls in just over three hours.
“I think every hundred is the best,’’ Samaraweera said. “My debut hundred was a special one and I scored one in Pakistan after we were nine for three and saved Sri Lanka. But this one is special.’’
Samaraweera also praised Vaas, with whom he shared the innings-reviving stand.
“Vaas was special. He is brilliant for Sri Lankan cricket and he did really well in supporting me,’’ he said.
Samaraweera added he was confident of winning in the last two days for a first series victory in the Caribbean.
“I think we have a good chance because we have a special spinner in Murali and the bounce is uneven,’’ he said. “I think the new ball is also key. If we can get two, three wickets with the new ball we will win definitely.’’
Jerome Taylor led the West Indians with four-for-52 and added a critical run out.
The home team spent the first hour of the day eking out a first-innings lead of 16 after resuming on 268-7 in reply to Sri Lanka’s 278.
West Indies added 26 runs, but the last three wickets tumbled for five runs as Muttiah Muralitharan completed his 63rd five-wicket haul in Tests.
The offspinner ended with 5-79. He claimed Denesh Ramdin to a sharp catch to first slip for 13 while Daren Powell was plumb leg-before-wicket (LBW) to one that kept a bit low on 3.
In between, Vaas claimed Taylor for 13 to a clear LBW verdict.
Sri Lanka’s second innings was rocked early by Taylor, who provided two wickets in his first over. He claimed Malinda Warnapura for a duck and ran out Michael Vandort for 1.
Warnapura edged to third slip where Sewnarine Chattergoon pouched a good catch while Vandort was a meter out after Taylor’s athletic pickup and direct hit.
Fidel Edwards and Powell provided the key scalps of captain Mahela Jaywardene and the world’s No. 1 batsman, Kumar Sangakkara, as Sri Lanka slipped to 32-4.
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
RSS