Sri Lanka wins First Test!

Sri Lanka have beaten West Indies for the first time in West Indies. Vaas was the pick of the bowlers taking half of the West Indian wickets.

Resuming the last day at 96 for 1, West Indies needed 341 runs and Sri Lanka wanted 9 wickets.

Bravo and Sarwan were batting well and didn't hurry at all. They're not going for win, but trying to save the game. They added 134 for the 2nd wicket and it looked like Sri Lanka was losing the grip in the game. Muralitharan, the experienced and leading test wicket taker gave the break through by dismissing Bravo through a beautiful caught and bowled. That was the turning point of the game. Samuels was caught behind off Vaas for 10. Chandrapaul followed him for 3, bowled by Vaas. WI were struggling at 178 for 4 with 50 overs to bat out.

Both Muralitharan and Vaas were getting wickets and providing break throughs for Sri Lankans. Gayle was the lonely warrior battling in the field. When 8th wicket fell at 89th over, West Indies needed to play out 24.3 overs. Both Gayle and Taylor were negotiating with Muralitharan's doosra and off-spin.

They played out 12 overs very well. New ball was taken by skipper Jayawardane and given to Vaas. He gave the break through with a short ball which edge to slips. With Gayle and Powell on the crease with 10.5 overs to spare. They were batting well, but the poor shot selection by Powell off Vaas finished the match. He tried to hit the ball over mid-off, but Muralitharan jumped and took a one-handed catch to give Sri Lanka the lead in the series. Gayle was not out on 51, which actually does not matter.

Score:

Toss: Sri Lanka

Venue: Providence Stadium, Guyana

Date: March 22-26, 2008

Captains: Jayawardane (Sri Lanka), Gayle (West Indies)

Man of the Match: Vaas (Sri Lanka)

Short Score:

Sri Lanka 1st Innings 476 for 8 declared in 162 overs (Vandort 52, Warnapura 120, Sangakkara 50, Jayawardane 136, Vaas 54 not out, Taylor 4 for 110, Gayle 2 for 66)

West Indies 1st Innings 280 all out in 111.5 overs (Sarwan 80, Hinds 37, Ramdin 38, Senn 28, Taylor 27 not out, Vaas 3 for 48, Mirando 3 for 59, Muralitharan 3 for 112)

Sri Lanka 2nd Innings 240 for 7 declared in 57 overs (Warnapura 62, Jayawardane 33, Samaraweera 56 not out, Bravo 2 for 54, Benn 3 for 59)

West Indies 2nd Innings (437 to win 113 overs) 315 all out in 106.2 overs (Bravo 83, Sarwan 72, Gayle 51 not out, Vaas 5 for 61, Mirand 2 for 70, Muralitharan 3 for 112)