West Indies made to toil in the field

THE West Indies fought back in the final session of the third day of the Sandals Test Match against Sri Lanka.

Playing at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Sri Lanka were 255/4 at stumps, with a lead of 153 runs.

After picking up an early wicket in the Sri Lankan innings, it was tough going for the hosts as the pair of Lahiru Thirimanne and Oshada Fernando added 162 runs for the second wicket.

These two carried the visitors through the second session of the day without the loss of a wicket, as the West Indies bowlers were made to toil throughout the session after lunch.

Despite this no-wicket session, the West Indies bowlers were still disciplined and stuck the their task and did not just give up.

In search of a wicket, the West Indies captain brought on Kyle Mayers in the after-tea period, and with his first ball he took the wicket of Fernando, who was looking set to make his century. He fell short on 91 runs.

Mayers’ golden arm continued as in his next over he took the wicket of Dinesh Chandimal, who made four.

With the wickets falling, Brathwaite brought back his strike bowler in Kemar Roach, who went through the bat and pad gate of Thirimanne and rocketed his stumps.

Sri Lanka moved from 170/1 and slumped to 189/4 in less than 10 overs.

However, they managed to steady the middle order slump when Dhananjaya de Saliva and Pathum Nissanka came together and saw out the rest of the overs to build an unbeaten 66-run, fifth wicket partnership.

Nissanka finished on 21 runs and de Silva was on 46 runs.

Roach has taken two wickets in the innings thus far and Mayers also has two wickets, as the West Indies opted to finish the day with spin, leaving their fast bowlers fresh for the start of the fourth day and with the new ball available.

The West Indies will be looking to limit the runs and go after the target as soon as possible to secure a victory.

Play begins today at 10 a.m.