Sri Lanka’s troubled tour of the Caribbean ended with a win in the third and final Test that enabled the tourists to share the three-Test series one-all with one drawn. The result meant that Sri Lanka will have another long wait for their next visit to the West Indies to try and achieve a series win in the Caribbean. On their last tour too in 2008 they drew the Test series one-all. This was the first time that Sri Lanka played a three-Test series in the West Indies.
This current tour provided them with the best opportunity to break that hoodoo and secure a maiden series victory but everything went awry for the Lankans from the first Test onwards which they lost by a big margin of 226 runs at Port-of-Spain. Although they fought back in the second Test at St Lucia’s bad weather proved a stumbling block and the match ended in a draw. Prior to going into the third and final Test which was a night game at Bridgetown, Barbados the Lankans encountered a number of controversies that resulted in the captain Dinesh Chandimal having to miss the Test following a ICC suspension and fine on him for ball tampering, a hand injury to key spinner Rangana Herath and the sending off home of young leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay on disciplinary grounds.
What one can assume from all these occurrences is that it brought the team together and what we saw at Bridgetown was a determined effort put up by the eleven selected players to save face from all that they had been through over the past week or so. Entrusted with the captaincy of his country for the first time fast bowler Suranga Lakmal, the vice-captain of the team led from the front to fashion out a handsome four-wicket win for his country and ensure that the Sobers-Tissera trophy played for the Test series remained with Sri Lanka. Mind you the team didn’t have experienced batters like Angelo Mathews (on paternal leave) and Dimuth Karunaratne (injured) but yet managed to beat the West Indies who were at full strength and become the first Asian country to record a win at this venue.
Lakmal was first promoted to vice-captain during the Test series against Bangladesh in January this year following his success as captain in leading Tamil Union to win the Premier League championship after 65 years in 2015-16. With Chandimal along with coach Chandika Hathurusingha and manager Asanka Gurusinha facing further charges by the ICC for breaching the spirit of cricket by holding up the second Test for two hours and liable to be suspended from two to four Tests, Lakmal may find his new responsibilities as Test captain extended to the South African series starting next month as well.
SPINNERS TAKE A BACK SEAT
This was a series where the spinners took a back seat and the fast men from both sides dominated proceedings. Lankan spinners Herath, Dilruwan Perera and Akila Dananjaya managed only eight wickets amongst them while the pacies Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara and Kasun Rajitha raked in a handsome 40 wickets.
From the West Indies side their only front line spinner Devendra Bishoo picked up only four wickets from three Tests as many as part time spinner Roston Chase took in one innings of the Port-of-Spain Test. The rest of the wickets were consumed by Shannon Gabriel (20 wickets), skipper Jason Holder (12), Kemar Roach (11) and Miguel Cummins (3).
What the series proved is that if the pitches and conditions are right Sri Lanka had a pace quintet to trouble the opposition and win matches. But the big question is whether back in Sri Lanka they would get the same type of pitches they encountered in the Caribbean. With the next Test series being against South Africa at home, it would be ideal if Sri Lanka can prepare fast and green pitches with bounce so that their bowlers can continue the good work and the batsmen now having accustomed themselves to the fast bouncy surfaces of the West Indies confidently counter the likes of Rabada, Philander, Ngidi and Steyn. Or will Sri Lanka with the desperate desire to win the two-Test series make turners to suit their spinners Herath, Perera, Dananjaya and Sandakan?
The Caribbean pitches proved a testing ground for our top order batsmen against pace and only two came out on top – Chandimal and Kusal Mendis who each managed a century in the series and made over 200 runs.
But what stands out here is the courageous knock of 28 not out off 43 balls from Kusal Perera following a nasty accident while fielding the previous day that saw him stretchered out and with a big question mark against him batting during Sri Lanka’s run chase. Perera batted with a lot of discomfort no doubt but stuck to his guns to steer his team home for a memorable win. Playing the supporting role perfectly was Dilruwan Perera who has on many occasions produced some unique knocks in Tests. This one when the team was in dire straits at 81-6 chasing 144 for victory would surely rank as one of his best innings. He proved the ideal foil to the aggressive Kusal playing a sheet anchor role scoring 23 not out off 68 balls in a match winning partnership of 63 for the seventh wicket. Dilruwan has no doubt proved himself to be a more than useful all-rounder in the Lankan line up.
What Kusal Perera’s batting down the order proved is that he is no Test opener. His contribution as an opener in the series was 0, 12, 32, 20 and 0. The sooner the Lankan management and the national selectors get this into their heads it will be better for the team. Perera does not have the technique to survive the new ball at the start of an innings - he is too flashy and loose in his stroke play to provide the start that Sri Lanka needs to lay a platform for their middle order batsmen to prosper. The best way to harness the talent of Kusal Perera and maximize it is to send him lower down the order.
Mahela Udawatte the other batsman slotted into the opener’s berth is not Test class at all. For ten years since making his entry into international cricket at the age of 21 he played only ODIs and T20Is and was looked up as a one-day cricketer. To take the step from one day cricket to Test is a massive one and Udawatte no doubt failed miserably.
PERMANENT BATTING SPOTS
It is high time that the team management stopped experimenting with the exceptionally talented Kusal Mendis and gave him a permanent slot in the batting order. He should bat at either 3 or ideally 4. He is so talented that he will score a hundred in any position he is asked to bat like he showed in the first Test when he opened. The same goes with another classy batsman Dhananjaya de Silva who having the experience of opening at domestic level for Tamil Union would be ideal at no. 3.
The fitness issues concerning former captain Angelo Mathews (although he didn’t return home on those grounds on this occasion) puts a big question mark on his career how long he will be able to serve his country. It is good that Sri Lanka has batsmen in the caliber of Kusal Perera and Roshen Silva around to shore-up the batting if needed with Niroshan Dickwella playing a pivotal role as wicket-keeper cum batsman at number 7.
As for the West Indies who are ranked well below Sri Lanka’s no. 6 at 9 to draw the Test series was a commendable effort. Sri Lanka was expected to beat the Windies but their batting fell foul of the pace attack spearheaded superbly by Gabriel. In the West Indies batting spunky wicket-keeper Shane Dowrich was the pick of their batsmen proving a thorn to the Lankans scoring a century and two fifties in the series and accounting for 13 catches behind the wicket to win the Player of the Series award.
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