Sri Lanka ran riot on a rain-affected opening day of the pink ball third Test against the Windies in Barbados on Saturday, 23 June.
They had their hosts reduced to 53/5 before Shane Dowrich’s half-century and Jason Holder’s 33* helped the Windies end the day at 132/5.
Playing their first Test under the lights, the Windies batsmen struggled, with the visitors making the most of the green surface. Suranga Lakmal, the Sri Lanka captain in the absence of Dinesh Chandimal, had the breakthrough in the very first over, inducing the edge off Devon Smith (2).
The slide continued. From 3/1, the Windies slipped to 8/3 within six overs as Lakmal snared Kraigg Brathwaite (2) thanks to a brilliant catch by Danushka Gunathilaka, before Lahiru Kumara sent back Kieran Powell (4).
Shai Hope and Roston Chase attempted to steady the chase, adding 16 runs for the fourth wicket, but Kasun Rajitha, the paceman, had Chase’s stumps disturbed for a 30-ball 14.
Rain intervened soon after – only 21 overs of play were possible in the first session – and play was interrupted for up to an hour. On resumption, shortly after tea, the Windies lost another wicket — Hope’s 49-ball vigil was ended when Ranjitha’s induced an edge, and the batsman fell for 11.
It was then that Dowrich and Holder got together. In the remaining 23.2 overs possible in the day, the two watchfully denied Sri Lanka, putting away the bad deliveries and staying clear of the good ones. Their 79-run stand breathed new life into the innings.
Rain interrupted time and again, forcing an early dinner, and when stumps were eventually called, the Windies were in a much better position.
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