Sri Lanka v West Indies 2nd Test, Day 2 Review: Prasad puts the home side in a firm position

Sri Lanka v West Indies 2nd Test, Day 2 Review: Prasad puts the home side in a firm position: Sri Lanka’s bowlers dominated day 2 and put the home side in a strong position in the series decider. Dhammika Prasad struck early, all-rounder Milinda Siriwardana picked up two wickets and off-spinner Dilruwan Perera took care of the tail as the visitors were bowled out for 163, giving Sri Lanka a 37-run lead which they stretched to 113 with 8 wickets in hand by the end of day 2.

Prasad bowled short initially and later got into to his rhythm with figures of 5-2-8-2 in a brilliant first spell. Nuwan Pradeep bowled consistently and complimented Prasad well. For the Windies, the night-watchman Bishoo was the first to go for 13 while throwing his bat outside off stump he nicked Prasad behind.

Prasad piled the pressure with dot balls and the uneven bounce made life difficult for the batsmen. He got Bravo’s wicket as the left-hander played on for 2. Marlon Samuel’s innings was a painstaking one which began with two leg-before appeals on 0. He survived two more and was finally caught at slip, pushing at a tossed-up ball from Siriwardana to leave his team at 76 for 4, eight balls before lunch. Samuels scored 13 off 53 balls at a time when a counter-attacking knock was required to put the pressure back on the home side.

Kraigg Braithwaite showed some fight with 47 off 101 balls but was given out caught behind by umpire Rod Tucker. The noise may have come from the bat hitting the ground, but there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the on-field decision. This was Siriwardana’s second wicket. Jermaine Blackwood hit Pradeep through mid wicket and smashed Siriwardana for a straight six before becoming Prasad’s 4th victim. Blackwood played a loose drive and nicked the ball into the safe hands to wicket-keeper Perera.

Holder and Ramdin showed some promise, but their partnership of 32 could not flourish. Ramdin lost his composure and charged down the pitch only to hear the dreaded sound of timber. Holder had smashed a six and 2 fours for a 21 off 37 balls, however lost his wicket to the off-spin of Dilruwan Perera. An outside edge of his defensive prod flew to Mathews who fumbled and held onto a rebound. Perera removed Taylor and Warrican quickly to wrap up the West Indian innings for 163. Kemar Roach remained not out on 17.

The first ball of Sri Lanka’s second innings produced a wicket and the visitors were delighted to see the back of Karunaratne. An in-swinger from Taylor was flicked in the air by the left-hander and the ball carried to Bishoo who at square leg took a fine diving catch to his left. A 55-run partnership between Silva and Mendis was broken by a beautiful delivery from Warrican. The ball landed on a perfect length, turned and got Mendis’ outside edge when he was trying to defend it. It was a good catch by Ramdin behind the wickets. Mendis made an elegant 39 striking 7 fours and the knock gave a glimpse of his batting ability at the highest level. Silva and Chandimal safely batted out the remaining 9.1 overs with the match firmly in their team’s grasp.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka 1st Innings – 200/10 (M Siriwardana 68; J Warrican 67/4)

West Indies 1st Innings – 163/10 (K Brathwaite 47; D Prasad 34/4)

Sri Lanka 2nd innings –  76/2 (K Silva 31*; J Taylor 15/1)