Just as the weather over Queen’s Park Oval dithered between bright sunshine and steady showers, so West Indies wavered between brilliant and awful against Sri Lanka yesterday.
In the end, West Indies’ many faux pas allowed Sri Lanka to recover their innings from 60 for three overnight after 19 overs to a very competitive 219 for eight in 41 overs, then restricted the hosts to 190 for nine – chasing a Duckworth/Lewis method-amended total of 230 – to take victory in the Celkon Mobile Cup tri-nation series match.
The 39-run win put the Sri Lankans atop the standings, and with their boosted run rate, all but places them in the final. India, who the Sri Lankans play today from 9:30 a.m. at the Oval, are in cellar place, and their net run rate of -0.524 is nothing to smile at.
West Indies’ run rate of -0.383 keeps them hopeful of a final berth, as India need a big victory over their fellow Asians to climb into second spot and the final.
Four ducks, including Devon Smith’s 14-ball ordeal, highlighted the West Indians’ major problem this series: partnerships have not been forthcoming, and it has told in their inability to chase targets. Marlon Samuels – the regional team’s batting mainstay in 2012 – has proved ineffectual so far,
and stand-in skipper Pollard failed also to trouble the scorers, extending their respective lean patches.
Darren Bravo’s (70) and Lendl Simmons’ (67) 123-run stand put the Windies in a T20 batting scenario, but the loss of Simmons triggered a slide that saw the last six wickets fall for 23 runs.
Any betting man would have placed their money on Sri Lanka after the hosts slipped to 31 for four. Chris Gayle, facing the swing of Nuwan Kulasekara and Shaminda Eranga early on, seemed to be playing a game of “chicken” with the pacers.
His pattern of a swing and miss, a swing and four, then repeat, got him to 14 runs with two boundaries off Eranga, but Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews had Gayle edging to short third man. Gayle’s fellow opener Johnson Charles (also 14) looked horrified as he sent a leading edge back to Eranga.
Then 29 for two turned 29 for three – mirroring Sri Lanka’s effort yesterday – when Samuels drove to Jayawardene at slip. Smith was trapped in front by Mathews to make it 31 for four.
Enter Simmons, and he and Darren Bravo set about the repair. It took the former 14 balls to get off the mark, but once he had, Sri Lankan hearts were in their mouths.
Four towering sixes – including one that threatened to clear the Gerry Gomez Media Centre – and five audacious fours lit up the small crowd, who cheered every move the pair made.
But Simmons perished to one big hit too many – West Indies then on 154 – and was swiftly followed by Pollard. By the time they took the powerplay, things were almost beyond the Windies.
Darren Sammy (three), Bravo and Jason Holder (duck) all fell to big shots, leaving Kemar Roach and Tino Best to see out the innings.
In Sri Lanka’s innings, a mature unbeaten 90 from Kumar Sangakkara – which was more like a hundred in the context of the match – leaky death bowling, plus 31 extras, gave Sri Lanka more than just hope of eclipsing the home side and lifting themselves closer to the final.
The day started almost two hours later than anticipated, with rain the only thing on the park at 9:30 a.m. Once that lifted, it wasn’t too long before play resumed with Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne (overnight 11 and 13, respectively) at the crease.
They extended their partnership from 31 to 64 before Marlon Samuels snuck a faster ball through Thirimanne’s defence. Skipper Angelo Matthews (30) added another 46 runs with Sangakkara either side of another rain break, but he and Jeevan Mendis (eight) became twin victims of Roach after the restart.
 But Sangakkara took advantage of poor bowling to get to 90, and with Kulasekara (14) and Sachithra Senanayake (seven not out), took Sri Lanka to a good total.
