NORTH SOUND – West Indies gained an early scalp before lunch, after left-arm pacer Vishwa Fernando quickly mopped up their tail and restricted their first innings lead to 102 against Sri Lanka in the first Test.
Kemar Roach made the early breakthrough for the Windies, but Lahiru Thirimanne, not out on 28, and Oshada Fernando, not out on 34, carried the Sri Lankans to 67 for one in their second innings at the interval on the third day of the match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Roach continued his love affair for bowling at left-handers, when he had Sri Lanka captain and opener Dimuth Karunaratne caught at third slip for three, driving loosely at a delivery outside the off-stump in the fifth over of the innings.
But a period of ordinary bowling from the Caribbean side eased the pressure on the Sri Lankans, and Thirimanne and Fernando pounced to put on 59 – unbroken – so far for the second wicket and cut the deficit to 35.
Jason Holder also offered Fernando a reprieve, on 16, when he dropped him at leg-slip off Rahkeem Cornwall’s off-spin to make life easier for the visitors.
Earlier, West Indies were bowled out for 271, replying to Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 169, about 10 minutes after the start of play.
The Windies resumed from their overnight total of 268 for eight, and Fernando bowled Cornwall for the top score of 61 with his third ball and trapped Shannon Gabriel lbw for a third-ball duck to bring the home team’s innings to a swift close.
Summarised scores:
SRI LANKA 169 (Lahiru Thirimanne 70, Niroshan Dickwella 32, Dhananjaya 13, Dimuth Karunaratne 12; Jason Holder 17.4-6-27-5, Kemar Roach 3-47) and 67 for one (Lahiru Thirimanne 28 not out, Oshada Fernando 34 not out).
WEST INDIES 271 (Rahkeem Cornwall 61, Joshua da Silva 46, Kyle Mayers 45, John Campbell 42, Nkrumah Bonner 31, Jason Holder 19; Suranga Lakmal 25-9-47-5, Vishwa Fernando 2-52, Dushmantha Chameera 2-71).
(AR)
