Saturday, April 12, 2008, Rabi-ul-Sani 5,1429    

Chanderpaul does as Miandad to win last-ball thriller

Port Of Spain—Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit a six off the last ball of the game to give West Indies a thrilling win over Sri Lanka in their one-day match on Thursday.

Chasing Sri Lanka’s total of 235 for seven, West Indies finished with their last pair of Chanderpaul and Fidel Edwards at the crease needing 10 from the last two balls and up against Sri Lanka’s top bowler Chaminda Vaas.

Chanderpaul hit the penultimate ball for a straight four and then crashed a full toss from Vaas over the mid-wicket boundary for a remarkable victory.

“We’re happy with the win but we would have been happier if we could have sealed the victory if we could have won the game with more wickets in hand,” said West Indies’ Dwayne Bravo.

“We knew it would have been difficult with two balls to get 10 runs and with a bowler as experienced as Chaminda Vaas you would back the bowling team but Shiv has done it already on different occasions and it goes to show his experience.”

Sri Lanka, fielding several younger faces and without key bowlers Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan, had been reeling at 49 for five after Bravo claimed three early wickets before Chamara Kapugedera (95) and Chamara Silva (67) put on a sixth wicket partnership of 159 to turn around the innings.

“We played a lot of good cricket and a lot of bad cricket but to come back from that situation and make 235 showed the character of the guys,” said Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss.—Agencies