SHENLEY, England, CMC:
THREE DAYS before the start of their Test series with England, Shivnarine Chanderpaul made a welcomed return to form with an unbeaten 104 and Sylvester Joseph kept the pressure on the selectors with a half-century, as the West Indies' three-day match against Sri Lanka 'A' ended in a draw yesterday.
West Indies were 283 for five in their second innings when the match came to an end, after acting captain Ramnaresh Sarwan declined to enforce the follow-on when the Sri Lankans were eventually dismissed for 346 midway through the morning session, giving the Caribbean side a healthy first innings lead of 188.
BATTING PRACTICE
With West Indies opting for batting practice rather than any remote prospects of victory on a placid Denis Compton Oval pitch, Thilan Thushara's pace and bounce almost upset their plans for Test preparation as he single-handedly reduced West Indies to 70 for three.
Chanderpaul, however, found a solid partner in Joseph, the pair adding 130 for the fourth wicket with a minimum of fuss before the aggressive right-hander failed to read the googly from part-time wrist-spinner Bathiya Perera and was lbw for 68.
Coming on the heels of an even more impressive 114 in the first innings, Joseph has done almost all that could be asked of him in his first match of the tour.
Despite a match tally of 182 runs, it will not be surprising if Joseph is still left waiting to make his Test debut, particularly as West Indies are concerned about the depth of their bowling for the four-Test duel with England which starts on Thursday.
But for a rousing, boundary-filled innings in a warm-up limited-overs match against Sussex, Chanderpaul had previously endured a terrible tour, compiling just 89 from five innings in the NatWest Series and then scratched out 10 runs in two innings last week against the MCC at Arundel.
LENGTHY OCCUPATION
With conditions tailor-made for batting, the 29-year-old left-hander looked set for lengthy occupation of the crease on the opening day before he was run out for 32.
Clearly he was not in the mood to let another opportunity slip from his grasp. His lack of timing and rhythm was evident in the early stages of his innings, as he laboured for almost two hours, facing 55 balls, before striking his first boundary.
Three more fours followed in quick succession and with the Sri Lankans also easing off by turning to a series of occasional bowlers, Chanderpaul was able to pick off the frequent half-volleys and long-hops with increasing authority.
