By Tito Chapman
The 22nd day of March 2021 will be a memorable one for Antiguan Rahkeem Cornwall for many reasons. Not only did he score his maiden Test half century, he is the first Antiguan to score a Test half century at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium. Cornwall now has the distinction of having the highest score by a number 9 batsman at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium and the highest score by a West Indian number 9 versus Sri Lanka.
He ended the second day’s play not out on 60 off 79 deliveries with his team ahead by 99 runs. West Indies closed day three against Sri Lanka on 268 for eight at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground located at North Sound.
The big-hitting antiguan slammed nine fours and two sixes with a strike rate of 75.95 to lead the home team’s batting and leave them in good stead going into day three of the contest. Cornwall’s 50 had earlier come off just 62 deliveries with eight fours and two sixes.
Solid contributions came from Joshua Da Silva, who chipped in with 46 off 124 balls while Kyle Mayers and John Campbell contributed with 45 and 42 runs respectively. Nkrumah Bonner added 31 to the total.
The pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka was Suranga Kamal; he bagged five for 45 in 24 overs with nine maidens.
On Sunday, all-rounder Jason Holder picked up five for 27 in 17.4 overs to help bowl out Sri Lanka for 169. Kemar Roach had three for 47 in 16 overs while Cornwall picked up one for 25 in 14 overs.
For Sri Lanka, Lahiru Thirimanne top scored with 70 off 180 deliveries while there was a contribution of 32 from Niroshan Dickwella.
