West Indies v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, North Sound, 22-25 March, 2021

Sri Lanka 3/54 at Lunch

Good start for the Windies!

They really should win this series, and well.

Sri Lanka fighting back a little after subsiding to 5-92.

Jason Holder 5-27 as Lanka is skittled for 169.

skully wrote:Jason Holder 5-27 as Lanka is skittled for 169.

What an admirable person he is. Holder backs up after losing the captaincy and as he always has done puts in 100%.

On sheer talent there are dozens of players with more natural talent in their elbow guard than Jason Holder. Surely there are few current players who could compete with his heart and soul efforts.

Beyond the Test battles between teams, there are always the great stories of battlers who have claimed their place in the history of Test cricket. Mr Holder has a place in that pantheon.

This one’s perhaps for the WTC Division 2 title... good first day for WI anyway.

Holder’s efforts are always admirable, but I think you may have under-estimated his talent horrie.

Best all rounder in world cricket IMO. Better than Ashwin, Jadeja, Stokes, Shakib, or any of the rubbish we’ve served up recently.

A battle between Holder and Ashtray for no.1 World allrounder methinks.

At home Ashtray is a stellar allrounder but doesn't anywhere near match it when playing away.

Holder seems to perform consistently wherever he goes.

Stokes doesn't bow enough these days to rate.

Shakib is the only other serious contender for the title.

skully wrote:A battle between Holder and Ashtray for no.1 World allrounder methinks.

At home Ashtray is a stellar allrounder but doesn't anywhere near match it when playing away.

Holder seems to perform consistently wherever he goes.

Stokes doesn't bow enough these days to rate.

He doesn't want the crown to fall

Ganjas relying on an 8th wicket partnership to garner a lead v SL.

Half century to the big man. He always had a reputation for being handy with the bat in other forms of the game but prior to this innings, had only scored 39 runs @ 5.57 in Tests.

A bit much to expect Cornwall to make a ton from here, but an 80* would be nice.

The test is in an interesting position. After the Windies lost their last couple of wickets quickly to lead by 102, Sri Lanka have reached 4/255 in their second innings, a lead of 153. Fernando 91, Thirimanne 76, De Silva 46*, Nissanka 21*. I suspect Nissanka was responsible for some nice drives. "Just wait till you drive it". He has a FC batting average of 67.

West Indies probably won't want to be chasing much more than 200.

Lanka to win from here.

Sadly yes, they are on top.

WideWally wrote:The test is in an interesting position. After the Windies lost their last couple of wickets quickly to lead by 102, Sri Lanka have reached 4/255 in their second innings, a lead of 153. Fernando 91, Thirimanne 76, De Silva 46*, Nissanka 21*. I suspect Nissanka was responsible for some nice drives. "Just wait till you drive it". He has a FC batting average of 67.

West Indies probably won't want to be chasing much more than 200.

Such a shame his first name isn't Cedric.

Sri Lankans well on top now. So disappointing for WI and world cricket ... Test cricket needs a WI powerhouse again.

JGK wrote:

WideWally wrote:The test is in an interesting position. After the Windies lost their last couple of wickets quickly to lead by 102, Sri Lanka have reached 4/255 in their second innings, a lead of 153. Fernando 91, Thirimanne 76, De Silva 46*, Nissanka 21*. I suspect Nissanka was responsible for some nice drives. "Just wait till you drive it". He has a FC batting average of 67.

West Indies probably won't want to be chasing much more than 200.

Such a shame his first name isn't Cedric.

If he was hitting sixes in joke cricket would Danny Morrison call them Maxima

embee wrote:

JGK wrote:

WideWally wrote:The test is in an interesting position. After the Windies lost their last couple of wickets quickly to lead by 102, Sri Lanka have reached 4/255 in their second innings, a lead of 153. Fernando 91, Thirimanne 76, De Silva 46*, Nissanka 21*. I suspect Nissanka was responsible for some nice drives. "Just wait till you drive it". He has a FC batting average of 67.

West Indies probably won't want to be chasing much more than 200.

Such a shame his first name isn't Cedric.

If he was hitting sixes in joke cricket would Danny Morrison call them Maxima

I think I’ve worked out that these are some very Australian car puns... (We have Nissans here, but clearly not the same models/names!)

Nissan Patrol, Nissan X-Trail, Nissan Dorma, Nissan Thropic....

We have X-Trails here, not sure about the others (especially the last two, though there have been worse actual car names )

Windies 4-231 in the last session needing another 140-odd. Looks a Draw.

This seems to extend the recent trend of pitches playing better and better right to the end, rather than deteriorate.

That’s why I don’t get teams taking the old fashioned view and assuming they’re safe with a lead of 250 or 300. On some pitches (ones conducive to spin in particular) that might be the case, but it’s rarely a given, and often it takes only one inspired innings or partnership to break the back of a large-ish chase.