Deonarine revives tourists

Sri Lanka 150 West Indies 92-5

In spite of the absence of Brian Lara and nine others, West Indies held their own in the first Test last week before losing by six wickets.

Yesterday they dismissed Sri Lanka for 150, before Chaminda Vaas exposed the technical deficiencies of the tourists' batsmen and reduced them to 92 for 5.

In his 86th Test Vaas - Man of the Match with seven wickets in the first Test - once more posed insoluble problems and claimed all four wickets that followed the run out of the Test debutant Ryan Ramdass in the third over. When the veteran captain, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the only batsman in the top six with more than 10 Tests, was lbw for 13, West Indies were 27 for 4.

But the 21-year-old Narsingh Deonarine, like Chanderpaul left-handed, a Guyanese and a physical lightweight, held firm to be unbeaten 36 at close, sharing a stand of 48 with Sylvester Joseph.