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Agencies
Gros Islet (Saint Lucia)
Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal has been charged with"changing the condition of the ball", by the International Cricket Council (ICC), during the second Test against West Indies here.
The game's global governing body announced the news on Sunday, saying more details would follow.
"Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal has been charged for breaching Level 2.2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct. More details to follow in due course,"the ICC said on its official Twitter account.
Article 2.2.9 of the ICC's code of conduct relates to changing the condition of the ball in breach of clause 41.3 of the ICC Standard Test Match, ODI and T20I playing conditions.
On-field umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould had expressed concern over the condition of the ball on the second day of the Test.
ICC match referee Javagal Srinath had awarded five runs to the West Indies on the morning of the third day. The Sri Lanka players had taken to the field two hours after the scheduled start of play on the third day as a mark of protest.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) stoutly defended the team, saying it would defend any"unwarranted allegation" against any player."The team management has informed us that Sri Lankan players have not engaged in any wrong doing during the ongoing (2nd) Test match played between Sri Lanka and West Indies," the SLC said in a statement.
"The team on the third day of the match protested a decision taken by the umpires citing 'changing the condition of the ball'," the statement added.
When play eventually resumed, Sri Lanka fought well to limit the West Indies first innings lead to 47 runs as the hosts, who started the day at 118 for two, lost their last six wickets for 59 runs to be dismissed in the final session for 300.
Lahiru Kumara was again their most outstanding bowler, constantly threatening with his pace and aggression to finish with figures of four for 86 and lift his wicket tally to 11 halfway through the series.
Opening batsman Devon Smith top scored with a painstaking 61 while Shane Dowrich, fresh from a match-winning unbeaten century in the first Test in Trinidad, contributed 55.
It was the wicketkeeper-batsman's 78-run fifth-wicket partnership with Roston Chase (41) which threatened to earn the West Indies a significant first innings advantage.
However, Kumara removed Chase in the first over with the second new ball and that opened the door for the Sri Lankans to significantly restrict the progress of the Caribbean side's often resilient lower order.
Shannon Gabriel, as he has done in every innings so far in this series, claimed an early wicket in the Sri Lanka second innings when Kusal Perera fell to a catch by Dowrich in the penultimate over of the day.
Barring any other dramatic overnight developments, the visitors will resume on 34 for one, needing just another 13 runs to erase the first innings deficit with debutants Mahela Udawatte and Kasun Rajitha, doing the job of nightwatchman, at the crease.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka (1st innings): 253
West Indies (1st innings, overnight 118-2):
K. Brathwaite c Dickwella b Rajitha 22
D. Smith lbw b Dananjaya 61
K. Powell c Mendis b Kumara 27
S. Hope c de Silva b Lakmal 19
R. Chase c Lakmal b Kumara 41
S. Dowrich c Dickwella b Lakmal 55
J. Holder c Dickwella b Rajitha 15
D. Bishoo c Mendis b Rajitha 2
K. Roach lbw b Kumara 13
M. Cummins not out 8
S. Gabriel c de Silva b Kumara 3
Extras (b11, lb8, nb1, w9, pen5) 34
Total (100.3 overs, all out) 300
Fall of wickets: 1-59 (Brathwaite), 2-115 (Powell), 3-149 (Hope), 4-163 (Smith), 5-241 (Chase), 6-254 (Dowrich), 7-261 (Bishoo), 8-279 (Holder), 9-292 (Roach), 10-300 (Gabriel)
Bowling: Lakmal 24-6-50-2 (1w), Dananjaya 25-7-81-1, Rajitha 22-6-49-3 (2w),Kumara 26.3-4-86-4 (1nb, 2w), De Silva 3-0-10-0
Sri Lanka (2nd innings):
K. Perera c Dowrich b Gabriel 20
M. Udawatte not out 11
K. Rajitha not out 0
Extras (nb2, w1) 3
Total (9 overs, 1wkt) 34
To bat: K. Mendis, D. De Silva, D. Chandimal, R. Silva, N. Dickwella, A. Dananjaya, S. Lakmal, L. Kumara
Fall of wicket: 1-32 (Perera)
Bowling: Roach 3-1-12-0, Gabriel 4-0-14-1 (1nb), Holder 1-0-6-0 (1nb, 1w), Cummins 1-0-2-0.
