by Friday 15, November 1996
Sri Lanka `A' vs West Indies `A' : Harper, Lewis spin out SL `A'
By SA'ADI THAWFEEQ
For the second day running, spinners took the honours in the
second unofficial cricket Test between Sri Lanka `A' and West In-
dies `A' at the SSC grounds.
On a pitch assisting spin, West Indies `A' skipper Roger Harper
(off-breaks) and Rawl Lewis (leg-breaks) bowled unchanged since
lunch to take eight wickets between them to dismiss Sri Lanka `A'
for 287. This was in reply to West Indies `A's first innings of
220.
By the close yesterday, West Indies `A' had wiped out the first
innings deficit of 67 runs by scoring the exact amount for no
loss, through their openers Stuart Williams (29) and Philo Wal-
lace (29).
The game now stands at a very interesting stage with two days
remaining.
So far, spinners have dictated the course of the match capturing
15 of the 20 wickets to fall.
Harper followed the performance of one of his kind, Ruwan Kalpage
(who took 6 for 51 on the first day) by claiming 5 for 61 off
31.3 overs. Lewis proved an ideal foil to him to finish with 3
for 87 off 23 overs. The two bowled in harness since lunch to
capture the last six wickets for 67 runs and make certain Sri
Lanka did not gain a substantial first innings lead.
Considering the amount of turn the spinners extracted out of the
SSC surface any kind of lead on the first innings could be con-
sidered a bonus.
Having dismissed West Indies `A' for 220, Sri Lanka `A' needed to
consolidate the position given them by their bowlers on the first
day. unfortunately, only Duleep Samaraweera displayed the concen-
tration and application to play a big innings. The rest of the
top order batsmen with the exception of Mahela Jayawardena, who
was out to a poor shot, all got into the twenties and thirties,
but none showed the patience to convert those figures into a big
score.
The majority of Sri Lanka `A's runs were made while Samaraweera
was at the wicket. In fact 182 runs came while he was batting for
253 minutes. Samaraweera's contribution in that time was a well
constructed innings of 73 off 166 balls with nine fours.
Having put on 63 for the first wicket with Chaminda Mendis on the
first day, Samaraweera was further involved in stands of 49 with
`nigh***chman' Wendell Labrooy (23) and left-hander Naveed Nawaz
(36), before Lewis had him edging a catch to Harper in the slips.
Harper and Lewis tied the rest of the Sri Lanka `A' batsmen down
so much that only 79 runs were scored in the afternoon session
off 28 overs during which period Sri Lanka `A' lost four wickets.
Kalpage went on the offensive hitting an unbeaten 34 off 44 balls
with two sixes and an equal number of fours, but ran out of
partners in the end. He could only watch helplessly, as Harper
finished off the Sri Lanka`A' innings poised for a hat-trick.
The West Indies `A' captain took the wickets of Wickremasinghe
and Jayantha Silva off successive balls and needs to take a wick-
et with his first ball in the Sri Lanka second innings to com-
plete the hat-trick.
WEST INDIES `A' 1ST INNINGS 220
SRI LANKA `A' 1ST INNINGS (67 for one overnight contd.)
D. P. Samaraweera c Harper b Lewis 73, M. C. Mendis c Ford b
Cuffy 20, W. C. Labrooy c Joseph b Francis 23, M. N. Nawaz c and
b Harper 36, S. Jayantha c Rei TOTAL (all out, 86.3 overs, 403
mins) 287. Fall of wickets: 63, 112, 174, 182, 220, 227, 267,
286, 287, 287. Bowling: Gibson 11-3-38-0 (1nb), Cuffy 13-1-64-1
(14 nb), Francis 8-1-31-1 (4nb), Harper 31.3-9-61-5, Lewis 23-
3-87-3 (4nb).
WEST INDIES `A' 2ND INNINGS
S. C. Williams not out 29, P. A. Wallace not out 29. Extras (b-
4, lb-1, nb-4) 9. TOTAL (for no loss at close, 18 overs, 80
mins) 67. Bowling (to-date): Wickremasinghe 4-0-9-0, Labrooy 2-
0-17-0, Silva 5-2-13-0, Kalpage 5-1-12-0, Jayawardena 2-0-11-0.
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