GANGA
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC:
DAREN GANGA hit his 15th first-class hundred to be the cornerstone of his side's batting on the opening day of their third, final, and deciding unofficial, four-day 'Test' against Sri Lanka A yesterday.
Ganga gallantly fought diarrhoea and the ravenous Sri Lanka A bowlers to gather 109 that helped West Indies A reach a respectable 277 for five
when stumps were drawn on the opening day at the Saravanamuttu Stadium.
The West Indies A captain struck nine fours and one six from 193 balls in almost four hours to help his side recover from the instability of 61 for two and collected his 6,000th first-class run in the process.
He added 114 for the third wicket with vice captain Marlon Samuels, who scored 34, and other useful knocks came from Dave Bernard, Jr., who is not out on 41, and Lendl Simmons with 38.
ENIGMATIC PERFORMER
Ganga, who has had a chequered career in which he has played 31 Tests and 28 limited-overs internationals, arrived at his landmark just before tea to give backbone to his side's innings.
After West Indies A were sent in to bat, Tishan Maraj was caught behind off Nuwan Zoysa for five when he top-edged a pull, and there was more success before lunch for the hosts when Simmons was caught off Dilhara Lokuhettige.
Ganga and Samuels, however, made the Sri Lankans regret their decision to bowl on a hard, easy-paced pitch before the breakthough came just before tea. Samuels, who had batted patiently for close to three hours and struck just two boundaries from 116 balls, was run out.
Ganga fell shortly after the break when he edged Farveez Maharoof to slip to leave West Indies A on 212 for four.
Darren Sammy joined Bernard and spent most of the evening adding 43 for the fifth wicket before Sajeewa Weerakoon, the bugbear for the Windies throughout the series, had him caught and bowled for 24.
West Indies A, as expected, made seven changes for the match, bringing in Simmons, Maraj, Bernard, Sammy, Richard Kelly, Kenroy Peters and Nikita Miller for seven of the eight A team players that had signed up for the senior team's series against the senior Sri Lanka side.
Sri Lanka A made five changes, bringing Ian Daniel, Mohammed Suraj, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Tillakaratne Dilshan, and Farveez Maharoof into the squad from the previous match.
The series is tied 1-1, after West Indies A won the first 'Test' at Dambulla by 57 runs, and Sri Lanka A won the second 'Test' at Colts in Colombo by an innings and 16 runs.
SCOREBOARD
West Indies A first innings
L. Simmons c Maharoof b Lokuhettige 38
T. Maraj c Jayawardene b Zoysa 5
D. Ganga c Daniel b Maharoof 109
M. Samuels run out 34
D. Bernard not out 41
D. Sammy c&b Weerakoon 24
R. Kelly not out 13
Extras (lb7, nb6) 13
TOTAL (for five wkts) 277
Fall: 1-25, 2-61, 3-175, 4-212, 5-255.
Bowling: Zoysa 13-4-28-1; Maharoof 16-3-53-1 (nb6); Dilhara 8-0-32-1; Weerakoon 27-6-52-1; Suraj 19-3-72-0; Dilshan 15-4-33-0.
