West Indies v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Trinidad, 4th day

Sarwan ton helps West Indies square series:

West Indies 294 (Sarwan 57, Muralitharan 5-79) and 254 for 4 (Sarwan 102, Chanderpaul 86*) beat Sri Lanka 278 (Silva 76, Dilshan 62, Edwards 4-84) and 268 (Samaraweera 125, Taylor 4-52) by six wickets

A match that swung between West Indies and Sri Lanka , each side clawing back into contention when the other had the upper hand, was decided by an innings of exemplary application from Ramnaresh Sarwan. His partnership of 157 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul - during which he scored a century - on the fourth day won the match for West Indies and levelled the series, ensuring Sri Lanka's quest for a maiden series triumph in the Caribbean remained unfulfilled. The six-wicket win was West Indies' first at the Queen's Park Oval since 2000.

A target of 253 over two days with ten wickets in hand wasn't the most daunting but only twice had teams chased higher totals to win in Trinidad. Add to that the unpredictability of the West Indian batting order and the Chaminda Vaas-Muttiah Muralitharan factor and the task was anything but simple. The fourth day began with Sri Lanka taking early wickets before Sarwan started the recovery effort, single-handedly at first, later finding a steady partner in Chanderpaul, who remained unbeaten on 86 at the end.

Sri Lanka were banking on the wizardry of Muralitharan to run through the batting order but he was blunted by the patient approach of Sarwan and Chanderpaul. Not until the final stages did Sri Lanka's bowlers give it up but the pressure created by Vaas and Muralitharan was not sustained by the inexperienced support cast of Thilan Thushara and Ishara Amerasinghe, which allowed the batsmen to score steadily without having to look to hit boundaries.

It was fitting that Sarwan sealed victory with a hundred because he had scored three consecutive half-centuries in the series. West Indies needed a century from one of their batsmen and Sarwan did not throw it away after passing fifty. He started fluently, flicking and cutting Thushara to the boundary, and eventually hit him out of the attack by taking three fours - two straight drives and a leg glance - off his eighth over. Against Vaas, Sarwan stayed in his crease and gave himself time to drive the ball through the off side while his team-mates struggled on the front foot.

He was reprieved early in his innings by Tillakaratne Dilshan, who missed the stumps at the non-striker's end with Sarwan well short. Had he hit, one sensed that the chase would have been over, for apart from Sarwan's fluent innings the batsmen looked edgy. Even Chanderpaul had testing moments against Vaas, who caught the left-hander by surprise with a couple of deliveries that reared sharply off a good length.

The pair steered West Indies to 93 for 3 when rain forced the umpires to take an early lunch, giving Vaas and Muralitharan an hour to recharge. On resumption, they offered few scoring opportunities but Sarwan and Chanderpaul were up for the challenge. Chanderpaul concentrated on rotating the strike, often moving forward and across to work the ball through the leg side for singles and twos. He had a calming influence on Sarwan, who brought up his fifty with a slog-swept four followed by a cut towards point, and talked him through lapses in concentration such as a slash past the slips off Amerasinghe.

Sarwan used the cut effectively against the fast bowlers, forcing Mahela Jayawardene to put a fielder on the point boundary and successfully negotiated the threat posed by Muralitharan; he consistently worked him for ones and twos and occasionally moved out of his crease to hit him over midwicket or drive him straight down the ground. Sarwan was more positive as he moved towards his hundred, swatting Thushara twice from outside off stump to the wide mid-on boundary and the Trinidad crowd grew louder as they sensed a West Indian win.

A significant psychological barrier was crossed when Chanderpaul drove a full toss from Amerasinghe to the cover boundary to bring the runs required below 100. Another shower made the players take tea early, with Sarwan on 95, but when play resumed he reached his tenth Test hundred by sweeping Muralitharan to the long-leg boundary. By then, Chanderpaul was doing most of the scoring, repeatedly cutting and driving Vaas and Amerasinghe through the off side. Sarwan was eventually caught at bat-pad off Muralitharan for 102 but, with only 23 to get, the match was nearly won.

The game looked like it would be a lot closer during the morning session when West Indies' openers, Chris Gayle and Sewnarine Chattergoon, began tentatively. West Indies lost Gayle on 23 when he tried to slog Thushara. The ball moved away from him and the outside edge flew over point where Dilshan ran backwards to take the catch. Chattergoon fell in the next over, misjudging the line of a straighter one from Vaas and was trapped plumb in front.

At 24 for 2, Marlon Samuels joined Sarwan and they added 49, although Samuels looked out of sorts. He moved too far across his stumps against Vaas and survived several lbw shouts when the ball swung back and hit his pads. He eventually spooned a slower one to Malinda Warnapura at point. The match was in the balance at 73 for 3 but the three-hour partnership between Sarwan and Chanderpaul shut Sri Lanka out of the contest.

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West Indies v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Trinidad, 3rd day

Tea Sri Lanka 278 and 151 for 6 (Samaraweera 51*, Vaas 26*) lead West Indies 294 (Sarwan 57, Muralitharan 5-79) by 135 runs.

The second Test at the Queen's Park Oval hung in the balance at the start of the third day,

	Muttiah Muralitharan wrapped up the West Indies tail to take his 63rd five-wicket haul © AFP

waiting for one team to grab the advantage. The West Indies' fast bowlers did exactly that, rattling the Sri Lankan top order to reduce them to 32 for 4. However, Thilan Samaraweera led a dogged fightback and extended Sri Lanka's lead to 135 by tea with four wickets in hand.

That incisive performance came after the West Indian tail had scrapped hard to accumulate a first-innings lead of 16, which effectively turned the Test into a one-innings contest. However, after Sri Lanka had lost their top four batsmen cheaply, Samaraweera was involved in a succession of useful partnerships - 41, 26 and an unbeaten 52 - which propped up Sri Lanka. Given that West Indies will have to bat last on a pitch that's assisting pace and spin, a target of close to 200 will be a tricky one to chase.

It was imperative for West Indies to strike early and they hardly had to wait for Jerome Taylor induced an edge from Malinda Warnapura in the second over, which was taken by Sewnarine Chattergoon at third slip. A risky single and superb athleticism brought West Indies their second wicket. Kumar Sangakkara pushed the ball towards silly mid-off and sprinted through but Taylor was too quick for Michael Vandort and his direct hit left Sri Lanka at 4 for 2.

Sri Lanka needed Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene to consolidate and see off a hostile opening phase but both batsmen failed to deliver. Fidel Edwards came back strongly after going for consecutive fours to force an inside edge from Jayawardene on to his stumps while Sangakkara was cramped for room and cut Daren Powell straight to Marlon Samuels at gully

Sri Lanka were effectively 16 for 4 but Tillakaratne Dilshan approached the situation in the way he knew best. He went after Powell, cutting him for four, lofting him over the square-leg boundary and driving powerfully through cover. The aggression rubbed off on Samaraweera and he made use of the width offered by Edwards to cut twice through point and then drove Taylor through mid-on.

Dilshan continued swinging, hooking and cutting but, like the first innings, one expansive shot too many brought about his dismissal. Jerome Taylor got a ball to swing back into the right-hander, which went through the gap between bat and pad to uproot off stump. Dilshan was gone for 25 off 19 balls after adding 41 for the fifth wicket with Samaraweera. Silva too showed signs of fluency, the highlight being the splendid cover drive off Taylor, but he chased at a wide ball and departed for 13, caught by Samuels at gully.

Sri Lanka were struggling at 99 for 6 and though Samaraweera had started with consecutive boundaries after lunch, he grew circumspect, and the runs dried down as Dwayne Bravo bowled a hat-trick of maiden overs while Taylor and Edwards kept the batsmen hopping at the other end with vicious bouncers. Samaraweera had a bit of luck during the lull, a couple of edges off Bravo fell short of the slips, but he latched on to the scoring opportunities, driving Bravo straight for four in his fourth over.

Samaraweera did not hesitate to rotate the strike either for he had an able partner in Chaminda Vaas, who tried his luck with the pull when faced with the short ball. Together they added 52 runs for the seventh wicket and Samaraweera brought up his half-century off a 100 balls just before the tea break. Their partnership was beginning to assume worrying proportions for West Indies, knowing how hard it would be to chase a sizeable target.

West Indies' tailenders had struggled to gain the lead this morning against probing spells from Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan. In fact, West Indies might have never got the lead had Sri Lanka held their catches. Taylor, who was baffled by Muralitharan, tried to attack and his first attempt to clear the boundary was a miscue which was dropped by Thilan Thushara at mid-off. Denesh Ramdin was also let off, when Chamara Silva couldn't hang on to a hard chance to his right at short cover off Vaas. Had those catches been held, West Indies would have been nine down and two runs in the deficit. Murali also had three close lbw shouts in a row against Ramdin, any of which might have gone his way on another day.

After countless lbw appeals, Vaas finally got one in his favour when he hit Taylor plumb in front with a delivery that bent back into the right-hander. West Indies were 289 for 8 and Murali wrapped up proceedings with a straighter one that found Ramdin's edge to first slip, and a quicker offbreak that struck Daren Powell in front to end West Indies' first innings on 294. Murali finished with figures of 5 for 79, his 63rd five-wicket haul in Tests.

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West Indies batsmen build steadily

An all-round performance from West Indies ensured they were poised to take the upper hand

against Sri Lanka at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain. After some wayward bowling on the first day, West Indies regrouped to dismiss Sri Lanka for 278 before their batsmen scored at a steady clip to reach 133 for 1 by tea, trailing by 145 runs.

The day began with Sri Lanka on 217 for 5 and another 100 runs would have resulted in a comfortable first-innings total on a pitch that offered movement to the fast bowlers. West Indies, however, were superb in the field and their bowlers were rewarded for a disciplined performance - five wickets for 61 runs - against an impatient Sri Lankan batting line-up. Then their batsmen pushed Sri Lanka on the back foot, not only by scoring boundaries but also by running urgently between the wickets, an approach which was in contrast to Sri Lanka earlier in the morning.

Sri Lanka's batsmen came out swinging but the aggressive approach, which produced excellent results on the first evening, did not come off. Tillakarate Dilshan had run West Indies ragged last evening, cutting and pulling with abandon, and he began the same way by lashing Fidel Edwards to the point boundary. However, he played one attacking shot too soon and miscued a pull off the third ball of the morning, Denesh Ramdin ran to square leg to take the catch. Chaminda Vaas too fell to a top-edged hook, which was once again held by Ramdin.

With two wickets gone for seven runs, Chamara Silva was in danger of running out of partners. A lull followed as Sri Lanka went 21 balls without scoring before Silva began to accelerate, flicking Edwards to the fine-leg boundary before bringing up his fifty with a scorching cut. Thilan Thushara concentrated on blocking and stuck around for 21 balls before a direct hit from Ramnaresh Sarwan caught him short. Muttiah Muralitharan lasted only three deliveries; he top-edged his first ball over the wicketkeeper, slogged his second to the midwicket boundary and sliced his next to third man where Bravo judged the catch to perfection.

With No. 11 for company, Silva went after the bowling, throwing his bat at anything wide to score at a brisk rate. West Indies could have ended the innings on 267 but Jerome Taylor dropped a simple caught-and-bowled off Silva.

A meandering passage of play followed with Silva refusing singles and trying to shield Ishara Amerasinghe from the strike. As West Indies strived to end the partnership, Jerome Taylor sent down a beamer to Silva and had to be taken out of the attack because he had already bowled one at Dilshan last evening. Sri Lanka's innings ended via another top-edged pull from Silva and Powell held a well judged catch at long leg.

There was doubt over whether Chris Gayle would open given his troubles against Vaas and he ended the speculation by coming out with Sewnarine Chattergoon. Vaas consistently seamed the ball away from Gayle and beat the outside edge of the left-hander's bat regularly. However, Gayle took on Amerasinghe, clipping him off the back foot to the midwicket boundary and pulling past mid-on in his first over. He drilled consecutive boundaries through the offside off Amerasinghe's second over but received a reprieve immediately after when Muttiah Muralitharan dived full stretch to his left at mid-on but couldn't hang on to a lofted drive even though he got both hands to it.

With Amerasinge proving expensive, Mahela Jayawardene brought on Thushara and Gayle tucked in, lofting him to long on before slogging to midwicket. West Indies scored 49 before the lunch break but lost Gayle for 45 soon after the resumption when he steered Thushara straight to gully.

Gayle had been doing the bulk of the scoring but Sarwan ensured that there was no break in the momentum by batting aggressively from the start. He began with a fierce cut to third man and concentrated on playing the inswingers from Vaas late, using the movement into him to push the ball through the leg side. He was also strong through the off, driving Thushara to long-on and then cover-driving to bring up the 100 in only the 18th over.

While Sarwan began at nearly a run-a-ball, the debutant opener Chattergoon started his innings patiently. He didn't try anything fancy and focused on rotating the strike. His first boundary came via an upper cut over slips and then he steered Vaas through point. Even Muralithraran, who was introduced in the 19th over, failed to make a breakthrough as the batsmen kept taking singles to keep the run-rate over four. Chattergoon had added 75 runs with Sarwan before rain forced the umpires to take tea early in Trinidad.

Edwards strikes after SriLanka's fluent start

West Indies v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Trinidad, 1st day

Fidel Edwards struck twice in quick succession to help West Indies salvage the first session after Sri Lanka's openers made a fluent start to the second Test at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad. West Indies were beginning to look ragged - they dropped catches and the new-ball bowlers struggled to control their line - but Edwards lifted them by dismissing Malinda Warnapura and Kumar Sangakkara as Sri Lanka went to lunch on 89 for 2.

Sri Lanka, however, won't be too concerned about the situation, for they were put in to bat on a grassy pitch, which offered pace, bounce and seam movement to West Indies' all-pace attack. Their openers - Warnapura and Michael Vandort - played and missed regularly but ensured that the steady supply of wayward deliveries was dispatched to the boundary. They added 62 at four runs per over before they were separated.

The opening partnership, however, was lucky to get off the mark for Daren Powell swung the second ball of the match into Vandort and hit the left-hander plumb in front but Billy Bowden turned the appeal down. The first three overs were tight from Powell and Jerome Taylor but Warnapura eventually cut loose with a flurry of boundaries, pulling Taylor twice when he pitched too short and cutting him when the line was wide. Vandort had played out two maiden overs from Powell before he too got into his stride with a flick to the midwicket boundary and an elegant square drive. Singles were rare but the boundaries flowed - the first five scoring shots were all fours.

West Indies' first chance of a break through came in the sixth over when Sri Lanka were on 21: Warnapura edged Taylor straight to third slip where Dwayne Bravo dropped a straightforward chance. Warnapura promptly drove Taylor to the cover boundary before nicking another one through the slips. Vandort was also reprieved on 10 by Powell when the bowler failed to latch on to a sharp return catch. Sri Lanka scored 60 in the first hour on a lively pitch, and West Indies were forced on the defensive: three slips became two and Gayle employed a fielder on the cover-point boundary and brought himself on in the 14th over.

Edwards was one of the changes West Indies had made for this match, opting for the extra fast bowler instead of the left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn. He was rewarded for consistently probing in the channel outside off stump when he found the outside edge Warnapura's forward push and this time the catch was taken at third slip by Sewnarine Chattergoon, who was making his Test debut on his 27th birthday. In his next over, Kumar Sangakkara nicked one to Denesh Ramdin and Sri Lanka had been reduced to 72 for 2.

The passage of play after Mahela Jayawardene came to the crease was interrupted by two sizeable delays because of adjustments to the sightscreen and advertisement hoardings behind the bowler's arm, and it began to rain as the players trooped off for lunch. A scoreline of 89 for 2 suggests an even session but given the assistance the pitch was offering to the fast bowlers, West Indies will feel they should have got a few more wickets.

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