SL vs WI - 2nd Test, Day 3, Galle - Mendis' 6-70 restricts WI to 253; SL trail by 3 runs at stumps

Sri Lankan spinners take all ten wickets in the innings and bowl West Indies out for 253

Sri Lanka trail by three runs on Day 3 (©AFP/GettyImages)

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 46/2 (Nissanka 21*) & 204 (Nissanka 73, Permaul 35/5, Warrican 50/4) trail West Indies 253 (Brathwaite 72, Mendis 70/6) by 3 runs at Stumps on Day Three

West Indies started their innings from the score of 69/1 in the morning, unbeaten batter Kraigg Brathwaite from yesterday looked in fine touch and smashed two back-to-back boundaries off left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya.

West Indies reached the three-figure mark due to a partnership stitched by Brathwaite and Nkrumah Bonner. Braithwaite completed his fifty by taking a single through square leg, a feat he completed in 135 deliveries. Bonner survived a close appeal of LBW off a delivery bowled by Suranga Lakmal and Sri Lanka lost a review in the process.

Sri Lanka got big fish Kraigg Brathwaite immediately after Lunch

Lakmal continued to create some chances against Bonner. At last, Bonner got dismissed LBW by off-spinner Ramesh Mendis on 35, to give an opening to Sri Lankan bowlers. Sri Lanka had to return to the pavilion after the first session with only one wicket in the bag.

After lunch, Brathwaite resumed his innings with two back-to-back cracking fours in the first over bowled by Embuldeniya. However, at last, Embuldeniya caught the big fish by knocking down the stumps of West Indian leader Brathwaite. He scored 72 runs in 185 balls with the help of nine boundaries.

Host spinners make inroads throughout the visitors’ batting line-up

Two-down batter Shai Hope looked nervous and survived some close calls. He played with an outright defensive strategy to survive against host spinners on a rank turner. His partner Roston Chase couldn't stick on the pitch much and got caught by Pathum Nissanka on 10.

New batter Kyle Mayers survived a magical over bowled by Praveen Jayawickrama at the start of the innings only, which included two close calls. He survived another LBW call, which Sri Lanka reviewed, though the ball was just clipping the leg stump. On the other end, Mendis finished the 89-ball resistance of Shai Hope, as the latter was given LBW which the batter didn’t review. Hope scored only 22 runs in his long innings. Read More: SL vs WI – 2nd Test, Day 2, Galle – Permaul, Warrican force SL collapse from 139-1 to 204; WI 69-1

Ramesh Mandis completed five-for to bundle out West Indies on 253

Right-arm off-spinner Ramesh Mendis added another two wickets in his tally to complete his five-wicket haul. Jason Holder and wicketkeeper batter Joshua Da Silva returned to the pavilion on back-to-back deliveries due to magical spin bowling by Mendis.

Lower-order batter Kemar Roach smashed two boundaries to add some runs on the scoreboard. In the meantime, West Indies reached 200. Jayawickrama sent back Roach to the pavilion on 8. Kyle Mayers struck a boundary and six in the last over of the second session.

As Caribbean batters came out to bat after the Tea break, host spinners didn’t take much time to bundle visitor’s innings on 253, however, hosts conceded a lead of 49 runs. Mendis finished with six wickets conceding 70 runs.

Sri Lanka lost two batters early in the innings

Sri Lankan batters started the innings while trailing by 49 runs. However, skipper Dimuth Karunaratne did a suicidal move of taking a quick single early in the innings and got run-out on just 6 runs, as Myers smashed his stumps with a straight hit.

One-down batter Oshada Fernando and second opener Pathum Nissanka tried to stitch a partnership that could have decided the fate of this match. He smashed two boundaries off Veerasammy Permaul but got run-out on 14 while taking a quick run. Next batter Charith Asalanka and Nissanka managed to survive the last few overs of the day.

What lies next for hosts?

As hosts are trailing by 3 runs and they lost two important wickets early in the innings, they have to be careful to avert a collapse tomorrow, as Galle pitch is favouring spinners to a great extent. The fate of this match will be dependent on how Sri Lankan batters manage to play the visiting spinners. Read More: SL vs WI - 2nd Test, Day 1, Galle - Nissanka-Karunaratne 106-run stand helps SL to 113-1