In a rain-curtailed Day 3 of the second Test in Antigua, Sri Lanka were 250/8 when play was halted with the tourists still 104 runs behind.
The lone positive for Sri Lanka at the close of play was Pathum Nissanka’s presence at the crease, with the rookie unbeaten on 49.
Starting the day at 136/3 in reply to the West Indies’ total of 354, Sri Lanka’s main aim was reaching stumps with a first-innings lead established.
That looked a distinct possibility with Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva both well set, having finished day two on 34 and 23 respectively.
However, the West Indies knew they were not too far away from Sri Lanka’s vulnerable tail and almost struck in the very first over of the day as Shannon Gabriel (1/33) drew an edge from Chandimal with a shorter delivery. The ball flew to the right of Rahkeem Cornwall at slip, who could not hold onto the diving effort.
But Gabriel did not have to wait too much longer for his first wicket of the match as the short ball ploy worked a trick against Chandimal. Dropped on 34, he pulled the fast bowler straight into the hands of deep square leg to fall for 44.
Fourteen overs later the West Indies stuck again as part-time off-spinner Jermaine Blackwood (1/16) struck with the first delivery of a new spell, dismissing Dhananjaya lbw for 39. To make matters worse for Sri Lanka, ball tracking suggested the delivery was going on to miss the leg stump but the batter had opted against the review.
