The second day of the first Test cricket match between Sri Lanka and the West Indies in Galle ended today (22) with Sri Lanka taking full control of the match.
The spin trio of Praveen Jayawickrama, Ramesh Mendis and Lasith Embuldeniya did all the damage as West Indies struggled to 113/6 on day two, trailing by 273 runs.
At stumps Day 02, the West Indies were 113 for 6 in their first innings. Skipper Kraigg Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood had added 46 runs for the first wicket before Embuldeniya provided the breakthrough trapping Blackwood leg-before for 20.
Then off-spinner Mendis came into the attack in the 32nd over replacing Jayawickrama and claimed two wickets in two balls to put West Indies in all sorts of trouble.
He struck in the last ball of his first over when Brathwaite was caught at leg-slip. Brathwaite had looked solid on his way to 41 off 115 deliveries with seven fours and had successfully overturned a decision before tea.
Mendis struck again in the first ball of his second over when Shai Hope was well caught by Oshada Fernando at short leg. He made 10.
Hope came in as concussion substitute for Jeremy Solozano. On his Test debut, Solozano was taken to hospital on the first morning when a full-blooded pull shot from Dimuth Karunaratne smashed into his helmet grille.
He spent the night under observation but scans revealed no serious injuries other than concussion and he returned to Galle and spent time in the team hotel after being discharged.
Jayawickrama changed ends and came on from the Dutch Fort End to pick up a second wicket as Jomel Warrican edged to wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal and then exhausted a review as the West Indies middle order collapsed losing four wickets for 20 runs.
Earlier West Indies bowled out Sri Lanka for 386 with Roston Chase claiming a five-wicket haul.
Brief Scores: West Indies 113/6 (Kraigg Brathwaite 41; Ramesh Mendis 3-23, Praveen Jayawickrama 2-25) trail Sri Lanka 386 (Dimuth Karunaratne 147, Dhananjaya de Silva 61; Roston Chase 5-83, Jomel Warrican 3-87) by 273 runs