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Yesterday Chris Gayle broke the back of the Sri Lankan attack with a blistering double ton. Today, he took aim at the records, as his side went to tea after having amassed 532 for the loss of three wickets. First to go was the stadium record. Mahela Jayawardene's 237 was eclipsed in morning session by a subdued Gayle who seemed a more determined version of the swashbuckling dynamo that set the ground alight on day one. Soon after lunch, Gayle bettered Rohan Kanhai's 256 in Kolkata to make the highest score by a West Indian in the subcontinent - breaking a record that had stood for 48 years. He then progressed towards his highest Test score, accumulating steadily alongside Brendan Nash, who had shaken off the jitters from the first session to make a half-century and play an assured supporting role.
Gayle became just the fourth Test batsman, after Don Bradman, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag to make two triple-centuries when he crashed Ajantha Mendis through the covers late in the session. Perhaps his century celebration yesterday was a little more colourful, but the unmistakeable satisfaction of taking his team to a position from where they could very well end their Test match drought on Sri Lankan soil was writ across his face as he knelt mid pitch to soak in the applause. A giant strike over long-on and a few singles later, Gayle was on the verge of making the best Test score against Sri Lanka as well as surpassing his personal best of 317 against South Africa.
Dammika Prasad thought he had Gayle at 287, when a leading edge from a short delivery sailed to Kumar Sangakkara at short cover. Unfortunately for the hosts, replays showed the bowler had overstepped, to deliver his eighth no-ball of the match, and the triple was on once more. Suraj Randiv and Ajantha Mendis bowled better today than their figures suggest. But an unhelpful surface and steadfast application from all the West Indian batsmen put paid to their best laid plans.
Sri Lanka were trying almost anything by the end of the session. Putting men on the hook and peppering the batsmen with short balls, bowling yorker length deliveries time and again. Nothing could dislodge the men at the crease. When play resumes after tea, Gayle will be looking to make more history, and Sri Lanka will be hoping that a declaration will end their fruitless toil on the field.
Lunch West Indies 429 for 3 (Gayle 255*, Nash 16*) v Sri Lanka
An improved bowling performance on the second morning provided Sri Lanka some respite, but they still faced a difficult post-lunch session, as West Indies moved to 429 for 3, with Chris Gayle unbeaten on 255. The first session yielded only 67, but a mammoth first-innings total is still on the cards given that Sri Lanka managed to make just one breakthrough. There was a sliver of hope that today might be different for Sri Lanka, as Ajantha Mendis struck Gayle on the pads with the first ball of the day, but the visitors quickly settled into a solid, if subdued, morning's work.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul accompanied Gayle in the first hour, crossing 9000 Test runs, before he was caught at slip off Randiv. Gayle displayed uncharacteristic restraint in the initial passage of play, adding just a solitary boundary - a front-foot pull off Dammika Prasad to the long-on fence - and was content to work the gaps, taking the singles offered by Sri Lanka's defensive field. He hit two more fours in Thilan Thushara's fifth over of the day, a powerfully struck off drive that beat the deep mid-off and an edge through the vacant second slip. The milestones kept coming, as he reached 250 for the third time and closed in on Rohan Kanhai's 48-year-old record for the highest score by a West Indian in the subcontinent.
While the visiting batsmen displayed a sedate approach, the Sri Lankan attack too, did its part to curb West Indies' advance. The host bowlers offered fewer loose deliveries and bowled well to their fields, executing their plans of containment with purpose. Randiv's bounce troubled the batsmen on occasion, creating several close leg-before shouts, while Mendis extracted enough turn to beat the bat of Brendan Nash. Despite the improvement, Sri Lanka face a testing task as they attempt to exert some control in a match that has thus far been discouragingly one-sided.
source by :cricinfo
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