Twitter Reactions: Pathum Nissanka and Niroshan Dickwella put Sri Lanka in command against West Indies

Sri Lanka started Day 3 at 255-4. Dhananjaya de Silva who was the set batsmen completed his fifty on the second ball of the day. However, he was dismissed three balls later by a beautiful delivery from Alzarri Joseph. West Indies finally had a breakthrough and would have hoped to capitalize on this opening.

They had opted for the second new ball at the start of the day but it did not yield the results they would have expected. After getting an initial wicket in the first over of the day they had to wait for 53 overs to get another breakthrough. The Caribbean bowlers were clueless and tired against two Lankan batsmen who stood firm as pillars.

Pathum Nissanka scores hundred on debut

Pathum Nissanka who was making his debut was involved in a 179-run partnership with Niroshan Dickwella. The debutant scored a fantastic hundred to show the world what talent he possesses. However, soon after getting to the landmark, he was dismissed by Rahkeem Cornwall. He scored 103 runs in 252 balls to set up the game brilliantly for his side.

While one batsman successfully reached the triple digits the other failed to do so by just four runs. Dickwella had looked in great touch and was scoring at a good rate as well. However soon after Nissanka’s dismissal, he too lost his wicket. The tailenders could not add much and it led to a collapse of sorts for the Asian team.

They lost their last five wickets in a span of only 38 runs. The West Indian bowlers finally had something to smile about. Rahkeem Cornwall and Kemar Roach were the star bowlers as they secured three wickets each. The spinner bowled 42.5 overs which shows his commitment towards the team. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 476 runs and the hosts had to chase down a target of 375.

Chasing such a huge total in the fourth innings is never easy. They needed a good start from the openers but unfortunately, they did not get it. John Campbell was dismissed after scoring just 11 runs and the scoreboard read 12-1. They did not lose any other wicket and finished the day at 34-1 in 20 overs. They still need 341 runs to win and it would take a mammoth effort from the batsmen to make a comeback in this game.

Her’s how Twitter reacted: