Day 2 of 2nd Sandals Test Match
Venue: Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
Toss: Sri Lanka won toss and bowled
Scores: West Indies 354 vs Sri Lanka 134-3
Scoreboard: http://bit.ly/wivsl2ndtestscorecard
West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite completed his ninth Test century to place his team in a strong position at the close on the second day of the second Sandals Test match against Sri Lanka. Brathwaite needed only two balls at the start of the day to reach triple figures – when he worked the second ball from Suranga Lakmal to fine leg for a single to reach the landmark off 241 balls with 11 fours.
Brathwaite ended on 126 off 311 balls with 13 fours in seven hours and shared a crucial 103-run eighth-wicket partnership with Rahkeem Cornwall which helped West Indies to 354. Cornwall reached a new highest score of 73 off just 92 balls with 10 fours and a six, to follow up his 61 in the first match last week.
Sri Lanka replied with 136-3 at the close of the day.
Lahiru Thirimanne followed his scores of 70 and 76 in the first Test with 55 which provided solidity at the top of the Sri Lanka order. Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya De Silva then batted through 25 overs in an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership which was worth 59 runs at stumps when Chandimal was 34 not out and De Silva 23.
“It’s been a pretty docile wicket so far so we’ve got to try and motivate ourselves,” said Jason Holder on the Sandals Player Zone at the end of the day.
“I took it upon myself to try to encourage the guys and ensure we kept going through the entire innings today. It was a pretty good effort from the bowlers so far, not a wicket on which you can just blast people out.”
Holder added:
“It’s pretty even-stevens. We’ve got two set batsmen at the crease at the moment. Our bowlers toiled very hard, we’re still 60 overs in; maybe if we can grab one or two more wickets before the second new ball then I believe we’ll be pretty much in the game.”
The match continues on Wednesday at 10 am (9 am Jamaica Time).