Related Links : Sri Lanka in West Indies 2007/08 : Scorecard
Sri Lanka hung onto a nervous maiden test victory in the Caribbean after overcoming several obstacles on the final day’s play at the Providence Stadium. The West Indies’ Captain Chris Gayle, who had demoted himself to the middle order held the fort almost till the end with the support of the tail. But Sri Lanka through Chaminda Vaas could achieve their much deserved victory by having Gayle stranded at one end.
The visitors had given a difficult target of 437 for West Indies. The homeside looked to be on track to even threaten to chase the target down after makeshift opener Dwayne Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan got going. Muttiah Muralitharan rescued his side by removing Bravo (83 from 169 balls with 10 fours and a six) to end the century stand for the second wicket. Windies lost the plot when its experienced batsmen Samuels and Chanderpaul fell in quick succession to Vaas after lunch.
As the partnership between Sarwan and Gayle started to develop, things looked promising for the Windies to draw the Test Match. Fortunately for the Lankans, they got their breaks at the right time. First left arm swing bowler got rid of Sarwan (72 from 206 balls with 3 fours) and then two more wickets fell quickly leaving Gayle with just the tail. Gayle prolonged the fight with the help of Jerome Taylor, who lasted for nearly an hour and then with the last man Daren Powell. Sri Lanka got to their victory eventually when Muttiah Muralitharan took an absolute blinder by jumping backwards to hold onto a skier offered by a helpless no. 11 Daren Powell. The West Indian Captain got stranded at the other end on 51 but what were significant were the near 4 hours of stay along with the 131 balls that he had survived. It was Chaminda Vaas’ day as he finished with match-winning figures of 5 for 61 in 22.2 overs. He was also the Man of the Match.