Regular strikes help Windies close to victory

PORT OF SPAIN: Sri Lanka had the opportunity to re-write the history books.

In a chase of 453, they were 277 away before Day 5 got underway with Kusal Mendis looking good for a big score. Close to a year back, they had overhauled a target of 388 against Zimbabwe, scoring 221 runs on the final day to win with a session to spare. Even though chasing down 277 runs on the final day was beyond them considering a Queens Park Oval pitch with variable bounce, they had the recent Test series against India to reflect on - they were 31 for 3 at the end of Day 4 in a chase of 410 and had managed to draw the game in Delhi, having earlier drawn the match in Kolkata as well.

However, neither of those thoughts would be anywhere close to Sri Lanka’s mind at the end of the first session on Day 5. Having lost Mendis and Lahiru Gamage on either side of the drinks break, the visitors were staring down the barrel with Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella falling just before Lunch. The spinners accounted for three of the four wickets to fall in the session as they helped Windies close in on a 1-0 lead by reducing Sri Lanka to 222 for 7 at the break.

When Mendis brought up his fifth Test ton in the third over of the morning, with a boundary to the leg-side, the usual raising of the bat and the helmet followed but there wasn’t any over-the-top celebration. He knew that there was plenty of work left and went about it by showcasing solid defence and astute judgement against the pacers who were looking to use the inconsistent bounce from the pitch to their advantage. However, there was one delivery from Shannon Gabriel, the quickest bowler for Windies in this game, which took off from a good length and clipped the glove of the centurion who didn’t quite have the answer to what looked like an unplayable delivery.

Brief scores: Windies 414/8 decl. & 223/7 decl. lead Sri Lanka 185 & 222/7 (Kusal Mendis 104; Roston Chase 2-14, Devendra Bishoo 2-45, Shannon Gabriel 2-52) by 230 runs. —Agencies