Dhammika Prasad bowled with typical aggression to bag his 5th career 4 wicket haul as the Lankan bowlers combined to dismiss the Windies for 163, giving the hosts what could be a critical 37 run lead.
Resuming on 17/1, overnight batsmen Kraigg Brathwaite and Devendra Bishoo came out to bat after a wet outfield had delayed the start of play by 45 minutes. Night-watchman Bishoo did not last long as he was lured into a rash shot outside the off stump and was caught behind off Prasad. Nuwan Pradeep kept up the tight bowling on the other end to ensure that West Indies’ top batsman Darren Bravo did not get any easy runs. The pressure exerted paid off when Bravo chopped the ball onto the stumps; Prasad yet again the wicket taker.
Marlon Samuels then began to rebuild alongside Brathwaite, amidst some quality bowling from Prasad and Rangana Herath, who was beginning to look menacing particularly to Samuels. The Windies looked like they would be going into lunch with 7 wickets intact but Milinda Siriwardene got the breakthrough just before the break when he had Samuels caught at slip, playing an expansive drive.
Jermaine Blackwood showed some glimpses of the batsman we saw in the 1st test as he looked to attack the bowlers, lofting Siriwardene over his head for 6. Brathwaite at the other end had so far looked head and shoulders above the other batsmen but he too was dismissed by Siriwardene driving loosely outside the off stump. It was unclear if he had nicked the ball or the pitch but with no snicko or hotspot available, the umpires were forced to stick with the on-field decision and rule him out.
Prasad then struck on the first delivery of his new spell to send Blackwood back to the pavilion. Denesh Ramdin and Jason Holder built on the good work done by Brathwaite but Ramdin fell to Herath as he swung for the fences. Despite some nice shots from Holder the tail was unable to cope with Dilruwan Perera’s off spin and he picked up the last 3 wickets to clean up the tail. Kemar Roach was impressive once again and remained not out on 17.
Sri Lanka’s innings got off to a bad start once again as Dimuth Karunaratne was foxed by a slow inswinger and lobbed a catch to square leg off the bowling of Jerome Taylor. Kusal Mendis walked out to bat in the 1st over for the 2nd time in his maiden test match but seemed to approach the innings with a lot more certainty. His first 29 runs featured 6 fours, including an exquisite on drive off Roach. He failed to make the most of his start, however, as he was dismissed caught behind off the impressive Jomel Warrican. Kaushal Silva overcame a very tentative and scratchy start to guide Sri Lanka to 76 for 2 at the end of the day’s play, putting the hosts 113 runs ahead.
The pitch had already begun to break up with puffs of dust accompanying deliveries that spun off a length, along with varying bounce. Sri Lanka will look to build a lead of about 250-300 as batting will only continue to get harder as the test match progresses.
Sri Lanka 200 & 76/2 (31.0 ov): (K. Mendis 39; J. Warrican 1/21)
West Indies 163: (K. Brathwaite 47; D. Prasad 4/34, D. Perera 3/28)
Sri Lanka lead by 113 runs with 8 wickets remaining
