West Indies vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Test, Day 2, Review: Match seemingly evenly poised at the close of play

The Pink ball Test match between West Indies and Sri Lanka is taking some interesting turns. The Pink ball is doing quite a lot and is often putting the batsmen in some great trouble. Further, with the weather conditions assisting, it has been an absolute treat for the bowlers thus far.

Yet again, the day was cut short because of rain interruptions. About 59 overs were bowled on the second day of the 3rd Test. However, despite all these interruptions on the first two days, a result in the game seems to be pretty much likely. At the close of play on the third day, Sri Lanka was batting at 99 after losing 5 wickets trail by 105 runs.

Sri Lankan bowlers wrap things up quickly

West Indies seemed to be in all sorts of troubles during the first day. However, Shane Dowrich and Jason Holder put things back on track for them at the end of the day. With an overnight score of 132/5, West Indies were eyeing to push the first innings total further. Also, there were two settled batsmen in the middle which helped their cause. However, Lahiru Kumara stuck back right in the ninth over of the day dismissing the dangerous Dowrich for 71.

Soon, Kumara also dismissed Devendra Bishoo for a duck opening things up for Sri Lanka. Jason Holder added another 41 runs to his tally before he was dismissed by Rajitha. The Windies were bowled out in just 23 overs on the second day for 204 runs. Kumara picked 4 wickets in the innings.

West Indies bowlers strike back putting the team slightly ahead

With seamer-friendly conditions, the West Indies bowlers were on the top of their game. Kemar Roach dismissed Kusal Perera for a duck right in the 3rd over of the innings. Mahela Udawatte was also caught in front on the wickets by Roach putting Sri Lanka in trouble. Shannon Gabriel, who was the ‘Man of the Match’ in the Second Test soon joined the act picking up the crucial wicket of Kusal Mendis and also de Silva.

Meanwhile, Jason Holder cleared up Danushka Gunathilaka after the latter has scored 29 runs. Roach was the best bowler for West Indies on the day having picked 2 wickets in 8 overs and giving away just 13 runs. Sri Lanka were 99/5 at the end of the day with Roshen Silva and Dickwella batting in the middle. It will be important for this pair to push the total further and narrow down the gap between both the teams.

Brief Scores

West Indies: 204/10 in 69.3 overs (Jason Holder 74, Shane Dowrich 71, Lahiru Kumara 4/58)

Sri Lanka: 99/5 in 36 overs (Gunathilaka 29, K Mendis 22, K Roach 2/13)