West Indies rock Sri Lanka before rain break; match to continue on Monday

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach picked up two crucial wickets with the new ball as West Indies limited Sri Lanka to 60-3 off 19 overs before rain brought an early end to play on Sunday.

Roach (7-2-19-2) took the wickets of Mahela Jayawardene and Dinesh Chandimal on a lively pitch at Queen’s Park Oval in Match 5 of the CELKON Mobile Series, before the bad weather intervened. The other wicket went to Jason Holder, the 6-foot-8-inch 21-year-old, playing in his first match of the tri-nation tournament.

The match will resume on Monday at 9:30 am (8:30 am Jamaica Time).

Roach produced a quick, lifting delivery that hit Jayawardene’s bat and then the helmet before being caught by Devon Smith at point. Roach then produced a superb inswinger that hit the top of Chandimal’s middle stump.

Holder, in his third ODI and first in the Caribbean, made the initial breakthrough after stand-in captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and decided to bowl first. Holder had Upul Tharanga brilliant caught by Darren Bravo as he grabbed onto a fierce cover drive.

Roach said it was his best day of the CELKON Mobile Series so far.

“Today was the best I have felt throughout the entire series so far. My rhythm was good and I was able to put the ball in the right areas, as we planned before the match. I got those early wickets and we were able to set-back the Sri Lankans,” Roach said.

“I was thinking about hitting the pitch hard and so I could get as much assistance as possible… as you could see it was bouncing but a bit slow. The batsmen weren’t comfortable and our work paid off …we got those three early wickets.”

Looking ahead to Monday’s resumption, Roach noted: “It will be a new day. The Sri Lanka have to start over and so do we. We will look to stick to our plans and continue to build the pressure on the Sri Lankans. We have the advantage, but we have to make sure that we maintain that advantage and look to win and move on to the final.”

Sri Lanka innings:

WU Tharanga c Bravo b Holder 7
DPMD Jayawardene c Smith b Roach 7
KC Sangakkara † not out 11 (33b)
LD Chandimal b Roach 2
HDRL Thirimanne not out 13 (49b)
Extras (lb 2, w 16, nb 2) 20
Total (3 wkts off 19 overs) 60

To bat AD Mathews*, BMAJ Mendis, KMDN Kulasekara, SMSM Senanayake, SL Malinga, RMS Eranga.

Fall of wkts: 1-19 (Tharanga, 3.6 ov), 2-19 (Jayawardene, 4.1 ov), 3-29 (Chandimal, 6.2 ov)

Bowling: K. Roach 7 2 19 2 ( 1w), J. Holder 5 0 20 1 (2nb, 3w), D. Sammy 4 2 4 0 (1w), T. Best 3 0 15 0 (3w)

Umpires: Nigel Llong (England) and Joel Wilson (WI)
TV Umpire: Peter Nero (WI)
Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)

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