da imperador bet： The sun finally shone in Kandy, but that did not brighten the mood of theWestIndian players, who suffered yet another batting collapse; a capitulationthat squashed any faint hopes of squaring this Janashkathi National Testseries and leaves them
Charlie Austin24-Nov-2001The sun finally shone in Kandy, but that did not brighten the mood of theWestIndian players, who suffered yet another batting collapse; a capitulationthat squashed any faint hopes of squaring this Janashkathi National Testseries and leaves them with a desperate fight for survival tomorrow.This morning a draw appeared a near certainty after two rain-ruined days,but Sri Lanka dominated the day to such extent that they now have a goodchance to finish off the Kandy jinx.Sri Lanka bowled out West Indies for 191 and then added 128 for one in theirsecond innings to finish the day with a healthy 225 run lead on a pitch thatis offering both the pace bowlers and spinners encouragement.With Brian Lara waiting in the wings, setting totals is a dangerous businessand no easy targets will be offered tomorrow. Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmoresaid afterwards that they were looking at 300-odd in 80 overs (105 overs arescheduled tomorrow) depending on how quickly they are able to score.In normal circumstances, the West Indies would be expected to salvage adraw. But so meekly did the batsmen play today that a further calamitousperformance cannot be ruled out.After three innings so far in the tour, there is the widespread belief thatthe West Indies fifth wicket signals the eminent innings close. In Galle thelast five wickets yielded just 25 and 13 runs respectively. Here, theyrealised 24 runs.One dare not wonder their plight had Brian Lara not been batting somewherenear his regal best. He followed scores of 178 and 44 in Galle with abrilliant 74 before he was last man out today.West Indies, starting the fourth day on 39 for one, lost regular wicketsthroughout their 66.5 over innings. The early damage was inflicted byMuttiah Muralitharan, who took three wickets in the morning and four in all,but the most eye-catching performance came from Chaminda Vaas.Vaas, normally the team’s journeyman, has been working hard during the last12 months to try to master the art of reverse swing. Today he showed he hadgone a long way towards learning that devastating skill, as the old ballbent all over the place in a final six over burst that yielded four wickets(6-3-12-4).He was pulled into the attack by acting captain Marvan Atapattu after afrustrating 41 stand between Lara and Ridley Jacobs, who had swept his wayto 24. Second ball, though, he dragged the ball onto his stumps.Mervyn Dillon, back in good health after his mystery chest injury, thenplayed and missed four times before edging a low catch to Kumar Sangakkarabehind the stumps.Vaas’s next ball veered into Dinanath Ramnarine’s pads at the last momentand umpire John Hampshire upheld the appeal. Pedro Collins averted ahat-trick but was also trapped lbw for a 21-minute duck.Vaas should also have been awarded the wicket of Lara, with another sharpinswinger, but it did not prove expensive. Lara left high and dry by hiscolleagues, tried to farm the strike, but was eventually trapped lbw byMuralitharan.Earlier in the day, Ramnaresh Sarwan started the Caribbean procession inMuralitharan’s second over of the morning, as he lost his balance and wasbowled through the gate for 17.Chris Gayle had looked in prime form last night, hitting the ball withtremendous power. This morning he started more cautiously, but havingfinally opened his boundary count with two rollicking drives off Vaas andthen Muralitharan, he flailed wildly at an inswinger from Nuwan Zoysa andlost his middle stump.Three wickets down for 72, the onus once again fell up captain Carl Hooperand Brian Lara. They battled hard in the opening stages, as both Zoysa andMuralitharan bowled good spells, but runs started to flow freely whenleft-arm spinner Niroshan Banadaratillake was brought on to bowl.Muralitharan was reintroduced from the opposite end and he finally won abattle of pad play with Hooper, who was caught stranded on his crease andadjudged lbw by umpire Gamini Silva.Marlon Samuels has looked totally at sea against Muralitharan and he quicklyedged a catch behind for a duck.In a long evening session Sri Lanka’s openers started the second inningscautiously, mindful of collapses in previous situations in Kandy.Jayasuriya went onto score 53, his first half-century of the tour, before hedrove straight into the covers. Marvan Atapattu batted out the day and was58 at the close.