The West Indies drew with Sri Lanka in what many will regard as the best match of the World Test Championship so far. The hosts won the toss at Port of Spain in Trinidad and elected to bat first. They posted a huge total of 609 for 7 on a fast paced wicket that provided a scoring rate of 4 runs per over. There were 3 centurions as Gordon Greenidge hit 171, George Headley 117 and Brian Lara made an unbeaten 114. Everton Weekes chipped in with 82 and Gary Sobers hit 78 with Lasith Malinga, the pick of Sri Lankas bowlers, taking 4 for 114.
Sri Lanka replied with 415 all out. Kumar Sangakkara hit 163 in his first century of the tournament with assistance from Jayasuriya and Ranatunga. Wes Hall bowled quick and ferocious on this pitch, taking 5 for 102.
The West Indies batted until tea on Day 4 and declared on 112 for 2. George Headley was unbeaten on 45, with the hosts setting Sri Lanka 307 to win.
Sri Lanka made a great start. Gary Sobers eventually removed both openers, but not before they had 171 runs on the board. The wicket started to misbehave more after lunch with uneven bounce but Sri Lanka kept going and kept pace with the required rate. Skipper Ranatunga held the innings together late in the game and they were 274 for 5 when Sobers and Gibbs finally managed to wrestle back some control of the game. Sri Lanka lost 4 wickets for 13 runs and only settled for the draw when Asantha De Mel was bowled by Sobers in the penultimate over of the game. Gibbs almost won it in the final over, but Viv Richards dropped a very difficult diving catch at slip off Malinga.
The game ended a draw, with both teams coming away feeling like both winners and losers. The end result however is that the West Indies cannot now make the Final, with Sri Lanka already out of the running.
Both teams have one game remaining. The West Indies travel to Dunedin to face New Zealand while Sri Lanka are at home, taking on Australia in Kandy. It remains to be seen whether one or both games have any relevance in determining who will meet Pakistan in the final.
West Indies 1st Innings 609-7 (151 Ov)
CG Greenidge 171, GA Headley 117, BC Lara 114*, SL Malinga 4-114
Sri Lanka 1st Innings 415-10 (140.5 Ov)
KC Sangakkara 163, ST Jayasuriya 58, A Ranatunga 50, WW Hall 5-102, AME Roberts 2-86
West Indies 2nd Innings 112-2 (29 Ov)
GA Headley 45*, CG Greenidge 37, M Muralitharan 2-21
Sri Lanka 2nd Innings 288-9 (106 Ov)
FDM Karunaratne 95, A Ranatunga 57, ST Jayasuriya 56, GS Sobers 5-49, LR Gibbs 4-42
Match Drawn
Man of the Match: GS Sobers
Gary Sobers hit 78 in the first innings and took 6 wickets in the match, all of them bowled. In his final spell, he took 3 wickets for 8 runs in 6 overs, denying the Sri Lankan win and almost snatching a victory for his team.
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