NORTH SOUND – Kyle Mayers was eyeing the half-century mark before lunch and with his captain Kraigg Brathwaite helped West Indies emerge from a shaky start to the second Test against Sri Lanka in Antigua.
Mayers was not out on 49 and Brathwaite was not out on 26, and the Windies, put in to bat, reached 86 for two in their first innings at lunch on the first day of the match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Mayers and the resolute Brathwaite have so far added 71 – unbroken – for the third wicket, after Sri Lankan pacer Suranga Lakmal struck twice in the first hour to remove John Campbell and Nkrumah Bonner cheaply and sink West Indies to 15 for two.
But Mayers was very fortunate that he has survived this long, after he too, endured a shaky start to his innings.
The left-hander inside edged the first delivery of Lakmal’s seventh over past the stumps to get off the mark with a streaky boundary and he edged between second slip and gully three deliveries later for four.
Without addition to his score, Mayers edged the next delivery from Lakmal low to the left of third slip, where Pathum Nissanka, precisely placed in the position for such an occurrence, spilled a chance.
Mayers, however, grew in confidence and started to play his strokes, but he was 36, when he edged pacer Dushmantha Chameera between third slip and gully for the last of his eight fours.
Looking to make a bright start to the Test, the West Indies suffered a setback, when left-hander Campbell was caught behind off Lakmal for five, playing defensively forward, in the seventh over of the day.
First Test century-maker Bonner was bowled for a sixth-ball duck in the Sri Lanka pacer’s next over, when he tried to force a rising delivery through the off-side and played on.
Mayers arrived and was the perfect foil for the typically tenacious Brathwaite and they made sure the Windies did not lose another wicket before the interval.
Lakmal has been the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers with two for 25 from 10 overs, the first six of which were maidens.
Both teams are unchanged for the match, the winner of which will take home the Garfield Sobers-Michael Tissera Trophy, after the first Test ended in a draw last Thursday at the same venue.
Summarised scores:
WEST INDIES 86 for two (Kyle Mayers 49 not out, Kraigg Brathwaite 26 not out; Suranga Lakmal 2-25) vs SRI LANKA.
(AR)
