Rangana rips through Windies batting line up ..

Rangana Herath with his twenty third five wicket haul ( 6 for 68) and the eighth at Galle proved the West Indies bogey man as he has done on previous occasions against other teams made the visitors plunge headlong towards disaster at the end of the third day’s play in the first Test at Galle yesterday.

The Windies in reply to the Sri Lankan first innings score of 484 , were all out for 251 and were made to follow on trailing by 233 runs. At stumps they were 67 for 2 with Herath and debutant Milinda Siriwardena taking the wickets of openers Kraigg Breathwaite and Shai Hope respectively. The West Indies still need 166 runs to escape from an innings defeat. Darren Bravo the top scorer in the first innings with 50 is unbeaten on 20 and with him is left hander Devendran Bishoo.
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Sri Lanka’s hero Rangana Herath who took 6 for 68 in action at Galle yesterday.

West Indies in their first innings with 285 runs adrift to make Sri Lanka bat for the second time started off tentatively with Herath who took two wickets on the previous day starting with a maiden to Marlon Samuels. Nuwan Pradeep bowling from the Rampart end also bowled a maiden over. Darren Bravo looked edgy facing Pradeep and got one past through the slip cordon for 4. But in Herath’s second over Marlon Samuels whom the Windies depended on stepped out and drove Herath straight for 4, but two deliveries later Samuels going for a pull shot off a short delivery which kept low played on off his pads which was sufficient enough to dislodge the bail.

z_p20-Rangana-02.jpgJermaine Blakwood the talented right hander playing in his tenth Test match joined Darren Bravo and brought some order to the West Indian batting. Tharindu Kaushal who replaced Herath was treated harshly by left-hander Bravo , Tharindu Kaushal after being barred of bowling the ‘doosra’ doesn’t look the same bowler which he was , his tendency to bowl quicker at times has made him lose control and Bravo despatched him to the midwicket boundary for a four and a six consecutively to take the Windies past the century mark. The rattled off spinner now had to be aware of his front foot in addition to his arm as he over stepped thrice in the over.

Blackwood and Bravo added 41 runs for the fourth wicket, Dammika Prasad struck when Blackwood edged one into the slips to give Milinda Siriwardena his first Test catch.

Mathews kept his pace-spin going with Prasad and Pradeep from one end Herath and Kaushal from the other end. Kashal was replaced by Milind Siriwardena giving the left armer his first bowl in a Test match. Siriwardene after bowling four overs without much success for ten runs was replaced by Herath once again and Herath obliged his skipper in the second ball just ten minutes before lunch, Darren Bravo going for a big drive on the off ended up with a thick inside edge and Dinesh Chandimal took a spectacular catch at mid-wicket. Bravo had faced 107 deliveries and had eight fours and a six in his 50.

Jason Holder no rabbit with the bat with a Test hundred and a couple of fifties the skipper and his former captain Ramdin had to perform something extra ordinary to restore the innings. Holder after striking four boundaries in his 19 adding 33 runs with Ramdin was caught by Perera, Jerome Taylor added a further 46 with Kemmar Roache for the eighth wicket when Taylor snicked one to Mathews in the slips off Tharindu Kaushal. When Taylor was dismissed the Windies still needed 68 runs to avert the follow-on. Mathews opted for the second new ball at 245 for 8 with Roache and Devendra Bishoo trying desperately to avert the follow. But Herath sharing the new ball with Prasad took the two wickets. Roach who faced eighty deliveries for his 22 fighting doggedly was stumped by Kusal Janith and Shanon Gabriel both fell to Herath who completed another five wicket haul 6 for 68.