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Lara`s form worries Sri Lanka
Kingston (Jamaica), June 26: Sri Lanka go into the second and final cricket test against the West Indies here tomorrow hoping to avoid further punishment from in-form Brian Lara.
Kingston (Jamaica), June 26: Sri Lanka go into the
second and final cricket test against the West Indies here
tomorrow hoping to avoid further punishment from in-form Brian
Lara.
Lara hammered 209 in the drawn first match in St Lucia
yesterday to become only the fifth batsman to score five or
more double-centuries in tests.
Australian Don Bradman, Englishman Walter Hammond,
Pakistani Javed Miandad and Sri Lankan Marvan Atapattu are
the others to have achieved the feat.
Sri Lanka suffered the most in recent years from Lara who has already compiled five hundreds against them in as many tests, including two double-centuries. Sri Lankan captain Hashan Tillakaratne conceded his bowlers need to get Lara's wicket cheaply in order to put pressure on the West Indies in the second test.
"We have a lot of respect for Brian and he has been batting very well. He's is brilliant batsman, but we'll have to raise our bowling standards", he said.
Lara has been dominating the Sri Lankan attack since 1997 when he cracked 115 in the second test at St Vincent.
The gifted left-hander was in awesome form in the next test series against the same opponents four years later, scoring 178, 221 and 130 in Sri Lanka to aggregate 688 in three matches.
Lara again returned to haunt the Sri Lankans, cracking his 21st test hundred in the first test of the current series.
Top off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan looked the best Sri Lankan bowler, but failed to keep pressure on the West Indian batting superstar for long spells despite grabbing five wickets.
Bureau Report
Sri Lanka suffered the most in recent years from Lara who has already compiled five hundreds against them in as many tests, including two double-centuries. Sri Lankan captain Hashan Tillakaratne conceded his bowlers need to get Lara's wicket cheaply in order to put pressure on the West Indies in the second test.
"We have a lot of respect for Brian and he has been batting very well. He's is brilliant batsman, but we'll have to raise our bowling standards", he said.
Lara has been dominating the Sri Lankan attack since 1997 when he cracked 115 in the second test at St Vincent.
The gifted left-hander was in awesome form in the next test series against the same opponents four years later, scoring 178, 221 and 130 in Sri Lanka to aggregate 688 in three matches.
Lara again returned to haunt the Sri Lankans, cracking his 21st test hundred in the first test of the current series.
Top off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan looked the best Sri Lankan bowler, but failed to keep pressure on the West Indian batting superstar for long spells despite grabbing five wickets.
Bureau Report