ANTIGUA: Sonal Dinusha and Kusal Mendis put on 143 for the sixth wicket as Sri Lanka declared their first innings 549-9 in the second Test against the West Indies before the ball struck at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Sunday.
West Indies, who start the day after tomorrow with a new ball that is only three overs old, will have been hoping for an early start after losing two wickets in five balls late on the opening day.
An early breakthrough would have exposed Sri Lanka’s lower order, but Dinusha and Mendis had other ideas. Dinusha immediately signaled her intent by sending the third ball of the morning to the boundary.
Mendis soon added to the score, Alsari neatly driving Joseph down the ground before collecting two more boundaries from the same bowler.
Dinusha then greeted Shamar Joseph with another boundary, while Mendis took the attack to the fast bowler with a six and a boundary to restore Sri Lanka’s dominance.
West Indies’ frustration deepened when John Campbell spilled a straight chance at slip, giving Mendis a reprieve on 23 runs. The pair negotiated a testing period before lunch with decent batting before switching gears in the second session.
Both the batsmen rushed with confidence, hitting multiple boundaries to bring up their respective fifties. Mendis reached his milestone with a towering six and then cleared the ropes again against Roston Chase.
Against the run of play, West Indies finally broke the stand after the drinks break when Mendis headed for his stumps, ending a brilliant innings.
Milan Ratnayake then provided valuable support as Sri Lanka crossed the 500-run mark. After moving into the nineties with successive boundaries, Dinusha looked on target for a maiden century but fell agonizingly as she spooned a leading edge to the fielders.
Following the tea break, Sri Lanka batted for seven more overs and added valuable runs to declare for 549-9.
The visitors then made an impact in 24 overs and reduced the West Indies to 58-1 at stumps, with the hosts still trailing by 491 runs.
Sri Lanka made the perfect start as Asitha Fernando bowled an outside edge caught safely at second slip to dismiss Brandon King for 17 off 36 balls.
Despite the early setback, the West Indies avoided further damage before the end. John Campbell was composed at one end, while Gavem Hodge lost two chances during a bad knock, finishing unbeaten on six runs off 41 balls.