NORTH SOUND, Antigua (AP) 鈥� Sri Lanka’s middle order thwarted the West Indies’ bid to strike with the second new ball as the visitors cruised to 402-5 on Day 2 of the second test on Saturday.
Sonal Dinusha was unbeaten on 37 and Kusal Mendis was batting on 30 at lunch after the visitors denied the West Indies a wicket in the first session.
Resuming on 338-5, both batters defied the West Indies pacers and the hosts got little help from the fielders with John Campbell dropping a regulation catch of Mendis at first slip of Shamar Joseph.
Joseph (2-82) couldn鈥檛 add to his two early wickets with Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales and Justin Greaves sharing one wicket each.
The four West Indies fast bowlers were largely disciplined as Mendis and Dinusha ground out 64 runs in the first session. Mendis showed occasional aggression against Joseph when he smashed the pace bowler over backward point for a six and then followed it with back-to-back boundaries before Campbell spilled a chance in the slips cordon.
Mendis told the broadcasters at the break that Sri Lanka will be aiming for 450-500 and 鈥渢hat鈥檒l be very good on this pitch.鈥�
Lahiru Udara had led Sri Lanka to a strong total on Day 1 with an attractive 188 鈥� his maiden test hundred 鈥� while Kamindu Mendis missed out on a deserved century before falling for 84.
West Indies leads the two-match series 1-0 after winning the first test by an innings and 217 runs, its first win in eight World Test Championship games.
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AP cricket:
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