WI vs SL | 2nd Test Day 2: Thirimanne's fifty keeps Lanka in game after Brathwaite's marathon ton

A fighting half-century from Lahiru Thirimanne kept Sri Lanka in the game on the second day of the Test after West Indies skipper Kraig Brathwaite led Windies’ batting efforts in the first innings with a marathon century. Brathwaite was the last man dismissed for the hosts at the score of 126.

Replying to hosts’ fighting total of 354, Sri Lanka were jolted early on courtesy a one-handed catch by Nkrumah Bonner in the gully to send Dimuth Karunaratne back to the pavilion. 

The  Sri Lankan skipper has been poor with the bat in the series and once again was guilty of playing so far away from his body and Alazarri Joseph tasted early success for the hosts.

The next man in Oshado Fernando was tentative at the crease and after scoring streaky boundaries and surviving a close call by umpire’s call, he was found wanting against an incoming delivery Kyle Mayers.

At the other end of the pitch, Thirimanne was batting with a sublime touch and pulled out drives whenever Windies’ bowlers tried to tempt into driving. He took the bait but was better than the bowlers would have hoped and Sri Lanka’s innings were underway although wickets were falling.

However, as soon as he brought up yet another milestone in the series, Thirimanne was castled by Kemar Roach to leave the coach Mickey Arthur anguished. 

The game could have gone away from Sri Lanka after the fall of Thirimanne but Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva got their acts together and stitched an unbeaten partnership to end the day with the game hanging in balance.

Earlier at the start of the day, Windies skipper Brathwaite, who was unbeaten on 99 reached an elusive hundred after a long gap of three years. He had last scored a Test century in 2018 and this century will serve him well as he has embarked on the journey as the leader of the pack.

At the other end, his unbeaten partner on the first day Rakheem Cornwall started from where he left on the last day and helped Windies go past the 33 run-mark quite seamlessly. The right-hander also reached his own fifty in the first session of the day to set things up for Windies.

Brimming with confidence and having spent enough time in the middle, Cornwall started to take the game to bowlers after a relatively quiet morning with the bat. However, he perished in the pursuit of dominance as Lakmal came back to claim his fourth wicket.

Kemar Roach survived for a long time at the crease and allowed Brathwaite to cash in on tiring Sri Lankan bowlers before Chameera came back to remove both him and the well-set Kraigg Brathwaite.

Sri Lanka will be hopeful of a solid partnership between Chandimal and de Silva on the third day of the second Test if they have to get to a position of strength or close to Windies’ first innings total.