Karunaratne, Mathews and Mendis put Sri Lanka in commanding position ahead of Day 5.
Brief Scores: West Indies 52/6 (Bonner 18*, Mendis 17/4, Embuldeniya 18/2) & 230 (Mayers 45, Brathwaite 41, Jayawickrama 40/4) need 296 runs to beat Sri Lanka 386 (Karunaratne 147, de Silva 61, Chase 83/5) & 191/4d (Karunaratne 83, Mathews 69, Warrican 42/2)
Sri Lanka started the day with hopes of bundling out West Indies early and then bat well to put a substantial target in front of the latter.
After bundling out West Indies, Sri Lanka lost early wickets
From the score of 224 for 9, West Indies folded up at the total of 230 in the first few overs of the day as Praveen Jayawickrama bagged the wicket of Shannon Gabriel on the score of 2. As West Indies crossed the follow-on score yesterday, Sri Lanka came out to bat a second time in the first Test.
Opener Pathum Nissanka got out in only the third over of the innings as Shai Hope took his catch. One down batter Oshada Fernando took his time but couldn’t find any rhythm as he got out leg before wicket off Jomel Warrican. Read More: SL vs WI – 1st Test, Day 3, Galle – Tailenders help WI avert follow-on, end rain-hit day on 224-9
Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews added 123 runs for third wicket
Next batter Angelo Mathews weaved a partnership with opener Karunaratne. Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne got lucky as West Indies didn’t review one LBW decision of the umpire which looked surely out on the ball-tracking system.
Karunaratne took singles from time to time and also smacked occasional boundaries. He continued his phenomenal batting form to complete his 27th fifty in 76 deliveries. After reaching his fifty, Karunaratne took on the Caribbean bowlers. He hammered two boundaries in the over of right-arm spinner Roston Chase.
Mathews also joined the party to pummel two back-to-back boundaries off Gabriel. He also completed his half-century in 70 balls. On the other end, Karunaratne fell at 83 while playing a cut to Rahkeem Cornwall. Next batter Dhananjay de Silva also got out immediately in the next over. Mathews continued to play attacking strokes to increase the lead over the opponents. As Sri Lanka accumulated a lead of 347 runs, they declared the innings to give their bowlers enough time to bowl out the opponent batting line-up. Read More: SL vs WI – 1st Test, Day 2, Galle – Ramesh Mendis (3-23) reduces WI to 113-6; SL lead by 273
Sri Lanka spinners clean up WI top-order
As West Indies geared up to chase a huge target of 348 runs in the fourth innings at the fortress of Sri Lankan cricket, Galle, the home side started the bowling with spinners on a fourth-day pitch.
Lasith Embuldeniya and Ramesh Mendis started bowling in tandem. West Indies lost their first wicket early as Mendis trapped WI skipper Kraigg Brathwaite plumb in front of the stumps on duck. Embuldeniya also picked a wicket as Mathews took the catch of Jermaine Blackwood.
Wickets floundered in heaps as Mendis scalped Shai Hope and Embuldeniya shattered the stumps of Chase. Mendis looked in the form of his life and ran through the batting order of visitors. As West Indies lost their sixth wicket, wicketkeeper batter Joshua Da Silva and Nkrumah Bonner tried to stick on the pitch.
Rain forced play to be called off at the fag end of the day as West Indies were on 52 for 6 at stumps to avoid a huge loss on the fourth day only. Read More: SL vs WI – 1st Test, Day 1, Galle – Karunaratne’s unbeaten-132 peppers SL to 267-3 at stumps
