Sri Lanka tour of West Indies 2021 News

Chaminda Vaas the celebrated fast bowler of Sri Lanka has once again joined Sri Lanka Cricket’s position as Fast bowling consultant. This comes after he and SLC seemed to have amicably resolved a storm that saw Vaas resigning from his position of Sri Lanka’s fast bowling coach, just days after being appointed. The dramatic event occurred just when the Sri Lankan team was to leave for its West Indies tour. "Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to inform you that pursuant to a meeting that was held between Mr Chaminda Vaas and the Management Team of Sri Lanka Cricket, the matters which led to his resignation were amicably resolved," a media release from SLC said. The board further said that Vaas has been a great servant of Sri Lanka Cricket and it recognises his contribution. "Sri Lanka Cricket acknowledges the valuable services rendered by Mr Vaas to SLC and the significant contribution he has made to the sport as an iconic player and wishes him well," the media release read. This release is in total contrast with the last release which the board had released just when Vaas had stepped down from his earlier position. The board had alleged the great fast bowler of keeping the game ‘at ransom’. Vaas, 47, on his part, had tweeted after his resignation saying, "I made a humble request to SLC and they turned it down. That's all I can say at the moment. Justice will prevail!" Although Vaas is no longer the fast bowling coach, he would help the fast bowlers of the national team as well as those coming through the ranks. Sri Lankan team is currently in West Indies and having lost the T20i series 1-2 and ODI 0-3, have drawn the first Test and will be playing the second Test and the final game of the tour in two days’ time.

A marathon maiden Test ton from Nkrumah Bonner helped West Indies salvaged a draw in the first Test of the series at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Coming into the fifth and final day of the Test, Windies had an uphill task of resisting an impressive Sri Lankan bowling lineup for a whole day. But, Bonner stood tall right when the team required him to bat big and batsmen around him such as Kayle Mayers and Jason Holder batted with mixed aggression with grit to deny Sri Lanka any chance of running through the batting order to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Windies had already lost the opener, John Campbell, on the fourth day and the skipper Kraigg Brathwaite has had a task on his hands to get his team off to a solid start. He showed patience against pacers and did not play loosely outside his off stump that had resulted in his dismissal in the first innings. However, after spending more than three hours on the crease, his patience withered away against the left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya. He danced down the track to hit him over the top and in the process lost his stumps to make the tourists ecstatic. With both the openers gone by 40 overs, the responsibility of bailing the team out of trouble fell once again on the shoulders of the newest emerging batting talents in the Caribbean—Nkrumah Bonner and Kayle Mayers, who had led Windies to a remarkable series win in Bangladesh. They started defensively against Embuldeniya and the off-spin of Dhananjaya de Silva. Their task was made tough when Dimuth Karunaratne brougt Dushmantha Chameera into the attack and runs started to dry up. The target was not a key factor fo the pair, but Sri Lankan bowlers understood that prolonged pressure would bring a loose shot. However, in the battle of who will blink first, Chameera lost and provided a loose delivery outside Bonner’s off stump. The right-hander was all in readiness and thumped the delivery towards the off-side boundary to show confidence. Chameera bounced back in the next over and caught Mayers in front of the stumps. The umpire did not agree to the loud appeal from Sri Lankans and the skipper opted for a review. The ball was pitched marginally outside the leg stump and Mayers survived the close call. He out all that to rest with a crisp drive off Suranga Lakmal in the next over when the pacer erred by blowing too full to him. Sri Lanka kept coming at them every now and then though as Embuldeniya found Bonner paying from the crease to a delivery that turned slightly away. This time, the umpire agreed to the appeal and gave the batsman out caught behind, but only to reverse his decision after a review. Both Bonner and Mayers flourished with confidence and took Windies to the tea interval on the final day. The Windies batsmen had already batted two and a half session out of a total of three and a half sessions they were supposed to bat to save the game. However, they were jolted right after the tea break as Embuldeniya finally broke through with a delivery wide off Mayer’s off stump and tempting the batsman to go for a booming drive. The edge was found and snaffled up by Lahiru Thirimanne at the slip. The tourists had an opening with the next man in—Jermaine Blackwood not really known for his defensive batting. He bats with freedom and having taken the second new ball with and many runs left in the bank, Lanka sensed an opportunity against him. Skipper Karunaratne brought Vishwa Fernando to cramp him for room outside off stump and the move paid dividends. The new ball swung for Fernando and yorked Blackwood with an inswinging yorker to ring an alarm for the hosts. Bonner grew in confidence and was batting fluently in the middle. He jumped quickly past the 80s to get on the brink of his maiden century before Blackwood departed. The wicket did not deter him and when Fernando provided him with a half volley at 99, he smashed it to the boundary to bring up a much-deserving century. Jason Holder batted superbly to deny Sri Lanka any chance of getting into the lower order batsmen beneath him and the hosts managed to get out of the game with the series still hanging in balance at 0-0. The second and the last game of the series will be played at the same venue from March 29.

Sri Lanka made a fine turn around on the third day of the first Test against West Indies in Antigua after they took a lead of 153 runs in the second innings before the stumps were called. The visitors wrapped up West Indies first innings quickly on Day 3 after the hosts just managed to add three more runs in their overnight score of 268/8. Sri Lanka later concluded the day’s proceedings at 255/4 nullifying the lead that the Kraigg Brathwaite-led side had taken in the first innings. Fast bowler Suranga Lakmal scalped a five-wicket haul while Vishwa Fernando and Chameera picked up a couple of wickets each during the course. The visiting team then had a disappointing start to the second innings after West Indies had an early success. The Sri Lankan side lost captain Dimuth Karunaratne cheaply for 3 but Lahiru Thirimane and Oshada Fernando turned the tables for them and the two put up a stand of 162 runs for the second wicket. Fernando missed out on a hundred after getting undone by Kyle Mayers. The right-handed batsman was caught behind by Joshua de Silva after edging one from Mayers. Thirimane notched up 76 before getting cleaned up by Kemar Roach on a length delivery coming into the left-hander. Sri Lanka then saw a fall of wickets in quick succession before Dhananjaya de Silva and Pathum Nissanka came in for the rescue. De Silva concluded the day’s play at 46* while Nissanka was unbeaten at 21. Roach and Mayers were the two West Indies bowlers among the wickets. Sri Lanka were earlier bundled out for 169 in the first innings while West Indies managed to score 271, courtesy a half-century from Cornwall. Mayers later admitted that a couple of early wickets on Day 4 will help them get back on track in this clash. “I think the wicket is a good one. It’s flattened out nicely,” Mayers said. “Obviously they had the upper hand today but the game is still evenly poised. We’re still in the game. All we need is two early wickets tomorrow and then we’re in with a chance.” West Indies would now be looking to get some early breakthroughs to prevent Sri Lanka from posting a big total on the board. De Silva and Nissanka, on the other hand, would seek to build on the partnership they have got. The two batsmen are pretty well set in the middle.

A dominating lower order partnership between Rakheem Cornwall and wicket-keeper batsman Joshua Da Silva put West Indies in an advantageous position on the second day of the first Test being played at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. By the end of the second day’s play, Windies have secured a vital lead of 99 runs with two wickets including the danger man Rakheem Cornwall still in their hands. Da Silva was dismissed off a short ball of Chameera but not before the duo added 90 important runs when the situation seemed that the hosts will squander ll the advantage by bowling Sri Lanka for a middling score. Cornwall struck two sixes and 9 fours in his unbeaten 60 runs from 79 balls and his counter attack literally took the heart out of the Sri Lanka bowling attack. He was severe against both spinners and pacers and used all the power he had in his wrists to put Windies on the driving seat in the game. Starting the second day after knocking the tourists out for a less than 200 score, Windies batsmen had to bat well to put the team in a driving position. The start was horrible though as the new skipper Kraig Brathwaite was cooler in his batting style than it was visible in his career before, and there was an unusual waft outside off as well. He gifted his wicket away fairly early in the day to Suranga Lakmal. The middle-order pair of Nkrumah Bonner and Kyle Mayers were rewarded with slots at the number three and four positions for their excellent performances in Bangladesh. Bonner was lacing in discipline though and presented the Sri Lankan bowlers with an early opportunity with poor shots outside the off stump. At the other end, Campbell was highly watchful and batting with surety around off stump. He looked set with his eyes on a big prize and eager to not throw his wickets away for which he has always taken flakes from critics. Bonner settled down after early hiccups to take the full toll of scoring opportunities presented by Chameera. However, his fluency at the crease did not last long and the greed to take on a back fo alength delivery from Lasith Embuldeniya saw him plumb in front while attempting to pull. After Bonner’s fall, the hero of the triumph in Bangladesh—Kayle Mayers came to the crease and he started his innings where he left off in the subcontinent. He was dismissive against spinners hit them down the ground while attempts to bounce him out by Chameera was smashed over square leg boundary. The partnership between him and Campbell could not last long enough for West Indies to have total control of the proceedings and Chameera got the better of the opener to keep the game in the balance. Another quick wicket of Jermaine Blackwood pegged Windies back and Sri Lanka were sniffing a big chance to get the hosts bundled out before they could take the lead. Mayers carried on his merry way and took Vishwa Fernando for a couple of boundaries to keep the scoreboard going for the hosts while Jason Holder found it tough to get going. But, for Windies’ plight, Lakmal retired to account for Mayers to send Windies on the brink of a collapse that would have ruined their chances of getting an upper hand. Lamkmal bowled scattered spells throughout the day as Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne kept on searching for breakthroughs while defending a very middling score. The pacer did not disappoint him one bit and found another good delivery to send Holder back to the pavilion. He did not miss the chance to bag another fifer and with the wicket of Akzarri Joseph, reached the milestone in his 21st over of the first innings. With 171/7, Windies were ahead of Sri Lanka’s first innings total, but not by much that would have put real pressure on the tourists. Lanka smelled a sniff and attacked the pair of Da Silva and Cornwall with pace and spin. However, for Windies, Cornwall emerged as the new hero with the bat and put every bowler to the sword and by the end of the day’s play Windies were ahead by a significant margin in the first innings of the first Test.

West Indies have rattled Sri Lanka on the first day of the first Test being played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Sri Lanka were bundled out for mere 169 runs while in reply Windies survived the day without suffering any loss of wicket. West Indies packed up their bowling with four pacers in Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, and Alzarri Joseph. Kraig Brathwaite won the all-important toss in his first Test as a full-time skipper of the West Indies and decided to unleash his pacers on the tourists batting line up. Windies bowlers were wayward to start with Roach mend his course quickly enough to keep Sri Lankan openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne on their toes. The length of the attack was corrected to fuller as both the openers rallied on some luck. Braithwaite moved to Rakheem Conwall’s off-spin in only the sixth over of the game in a move that would have raised many eyebrows then. However, the off-spinner vindicated the move getting rid of Lankan skipper Karunaratne with his usual extra bounce. Windies captain got another chance to become an instant hero when Oshado Fernando and Thirimanne misjudged a single, and Brathwaite found the former out of his crease with a bullet direct hit at the batting end. With two wickets down for nothing, the onus was on the pair of Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva to bail Sri Lanka out of trouble in absence of Angelo Mathews and failure for skipper Karunaratne. However, Jason Holder and Roach came in with some other ideas and bowled with immaculate control over line and length which was missing in the first spell. A bit of movement away from the off stump accounted for Chandimal while Dhananjaya looked really greedy for big booming drives having already hit two. A nip backer sneaked through the big gap between his pad and bat and disturbed the furniture behind him and also Sri Lanka’s spirit on the very first day of the game. Pathum Nissanka could not stand up tall and provide any sort of resistance to the Roach-Holder duo as an edge behind the wicket was snaffled smartly by the latter. With five wickets down before the 100 run-mark, Sri Lanka were in deep trouble and needed someone to bat for some period of time with Thirimanne who was batting with amicable patience and determination. Niroshan Dickwella got the opportunity to enhance his reputation once again and he got the best out of it by stitching a vital 58 runs partnership with the opener. He played in his counterattacking style to put some pressure off his partner and Thirimanne reached a well-deserved fifty of 128 balls. Dickwella could not last long though and perished due to indiscipline outside off stump and his wicket brought about a catastrophic collapse of the lower order as the tourists were blown away from 150-6 to 169 out. Jason Holder picked up a richly deserving fifer on his return in the longest format for the Windies while Kemar Roach was not far behind with a three-wicket haul. Holder’s control with the ball and assurances with the bat could well have the reason Brathwaite could take a big call of playing only five batsmen and asking Joshua Da Silva to bat the number six position. Sri Lanka will have to strike early on the second day and they can’t allow Windies batsmen to get away with some loose balls. Karunaratne will have his tasks cut out once again as the captain of the side who does not have too many runs to play with a bowling line up that is so thin on experience.

West Indian wicket-keeper batsman Shai Hope has become the first man in history to hit six consecutive fifty-plus scores against one nation in the history of One Day Cricket. All his fifty-plus scores in the last six games have come against Sri Lanka, albeit the duration between the first and last three is more than one year. This rare feat was achieved by Hope while batting in the last of the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, being held at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound Antigua. Hope, who scored a match-winning century (110 of 133) in the first game, followed it up with a half-century (84) in the second one and 64 in the last. The only player to have hit more than six consecutive 50 plus score is Javed Miandad of Pakistan. He has nine consecutive fifty-plus scores to his name. With this sixth consecutive fifty-plus score, Hope also joins the West Indian club of legendary openers Sir Gordon Greenidge and Chris Gayle. Prior to this series, the last series that the Bajan played was against Sri Lanka only, in February, just before the global Lockdown due to Pandemic. Hope, 27, missed the only other ODI series of West Indies, which was against Bangladesh. In the last series, Hope hit one century and two fifties as well, although all of them came in a losing cause. In his 81 matches old ODI career, Hope has been one of the best batsmen that the world has seen, scoring 3547 runs at an average of more than 53 and a strike rate of more than 74. The right-hander has so far hit 10 centuries and 19 fifties in his career. West Indies, chasing a target of 275, were 149-3 at the end of 32 overs at the time of writing this piece. The last game is inconsequential in the sense that having won the first two matches, the Men in maroon have already acquired an unassailable lead of 2-0.