NORTH SOUND – Short-handed with the loss of strike bowler Shannon Gabriel, West Indies toiled hard to remove the defiant Sri Lanka opening pair of Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne before tea in the second Test in Antigua.
Gabriel pulled up in the fourth over after lunch with a hamstring injury, but Alzarri Joseph and part-time pacer Kyle Mayers provided the Windies with the breakthroughs, and the Sri Lankans were 146 for two in their second innings at the break on the rain-marred final day at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (SVRS), having been set 377 to win.
West Indies efforts have been hamstrung by the SVRS pitch not deteriorating significantly and the Sri Lanka opening pair grinded away to share 101 for the first wicket.
But Joseph got the breakthrough for the Windies in the over after Gabriel left the field, when he had Thirimanne caught at first slip for 39, tring to drive a well-pitched delivery.
West Indies endured another period of attrition before Mayers, getting the ball to swerve prodigiously through the air, had Sri Lanka captain Karunaratne lbw for 75, a decision confirmed following the batsman’s review of umpire Gregory Brathwaite’s verdict.
For the remainder of the period, the Windies met resistance from Oshada Fernando, not out on 29, and Dinesh Chandimal, not out on zero.
The two-Test series is level 0-0, after the first Test ended in a draw last Thursday at the same venue, and the odds have increased that this match too, will end similarly.
Summarised scores:
WEST INDIES 354 (Kraigg Brathwaite 126, Rahkeem Cornwall 73, Kyle Mayers 49, Jason Holder 30, Alzarri Joseph 29, Jermaine Blackwood 18; Suranga Lakmal 4-94, Dushmantha Chameera 3-69) and 280 for four declared (Kraigg Brathwaite 85, Jason Holder 71 not out, Kyle Mayers 55, Joshua da Silva 20 not out, Jermaine Blackwood 18, John Campbell 10; Suranga Lakmal 2-62, Dushmathan Chameera 2-74).
SRI LANKA 258 (Lahiru Thirimanne 55, Pathum Nissanka 51, Dinesh Chandimal 44, Dhananjaya de Silva 39, Niroshan Dickwella 20, Oshada Fernando 18; Kemar Roach 3-58, Jason Holder 2-39, Alzarri Joseph 2-64) and 146 for two (Dimuth Karunaratne 75, Lahiru Thirimanne 39, Oshada Fernando 29 not out).
(AR)
