Windies batsmen share second-day honours

From Garth Wattley
In Port of Spain

West Indies’s batsmen fought a keen battle with Sri Lanka’s bowlers to share the honours on Day Two of this second and final Digicel Test match.
Ramnaresh Sarwan (57, eight fours), debutant Sewnarine Chattergoon (46, five fours), Devon Smith (47, five fours) and captain Chris Gayle (45, nine fours) battled personal challenges and their persistent opponents to get within ten runs of Sri Lanka’s first innings score of 278.
When poor light brought another premature end to play, the home team had reached 268 for seven. It was fair reward for a good comeback effort after a below par first day.
The fans scattered through the Queen’s Park Oval had seen their captain show character at the top of the order. He set the tone for the resolute battle that followed against Muttiah Muralitharan (three for 64), Chaminda Vaas (one for 67) and Thilan Thushara (two for 72).