WI vs SL, 2nd Test, Day 5, Review: Sri Lanka ensure the game ends in a draw

After all the controversy clearly visible within the vicinity, the 2nd Test between West Indies and Sri Lanka ended up in a draw. Both sides have played some good cricket in the game. Competitive totals were put up on the board and bowling from both the sides was great to watch.

The Lankans were bowled out for 342 runs on the fifth day. Later on, the West Indies managed to put on 147 runs for the loss of 5 wickets before there was an interruption to the game. The light was fading forcing the players to go off the field. Further, there was a shower that sealed the game on day-5 with more than 30 overs remaining.

Sri Lanka takes the upper hand on the fifth day

With an overnight score of 334/8, the Lankans continued to bat on day-5. However, the Windies bowlers didn’t take too long to wrap things up. It was that man again- Shannon Gabriel who broke through on the fifth day. He trapped Suranga Lakmal in front on the stumps in the first over of the day. Gabriel came back to bowl his second over of the day and has got Akila Dhananjaya bowled to finish things off for West Indies. They were bowled out for 342 runs. Gabriel picked 8 wickets in the innings.

West Indies had their works cut out in the chase. 296 runs were to be scored in 92 overs. However, losing the wickets of Devon Smith and Kieran Powell within the 4th over forced their batsmen to take a defensive approach. Hence, Roston Chase was sent into bat. He survived 37 balls before he was dismissed by Lakmal. Lakmal also picked the wicket of Shai Hope soon putting Windies in trouble. But, K Brathwaite kept going strong from one end.

Although Sri Lanka seemed to have the upper hand, the weather wasn’t in their favour. There was a rain interruption. Further, the light was fading which was bolstered by a showing forcing the umpires to call the play off. Dinesh Chandimal seemed to be extremely disappointed when the umpires decided to go off the field. Shannon Gabriel with 13 wickets in the game was the ‘Man of the Match’.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka – 253/10 (79) Dinesh Chandimal – 119, Shannon Gabriel – 5/59

Windies – 300/10 (100.3) Devon Smith – 61, Lahiru Kumara – 4/86

Sri Lanka – 342/10 (91.4) Kusal Mendis – 87, Shannon Gabriel – 8/62

Windies – 147/5 (60.3) K Brathwaite 59*, Kasun Rajitha 2/23

Result: Match Drawn

Man of the Match: Shannon Gabriel