Sonal Dinusha and Kusal Mendis put on 143 runs for the sixth wicket on Saturday as Sri Lanka demolished the West Indian pacers to declare its first innings at 549-9 on the second day of the second Test.
West Indies lost the wicket of Brandon King (17) in 24 overs before stumps to end at 58-1, still 491 runs behind. John Campbell was 31 and Kavem Hodge 6 not out.
West Indies lead the two-match series after winning the first Test by an innings and 217 runs.
Dinusha and Mendis built on the foundation laid by Lahiru Udara and Kamindu Mendis, whose record partnership of 215 runs had stumped Sri Lanka at 338-5 on the first day. Udara made 188 and Kamindu 84.
After taking two wickets late on day one and operating with the second new ball, which was just two overs old, West Indies wanted an early breakthrough on day two. It was denied by Dinusha who made 92 and Mendis who made 69 and batted through the entire first and much of the second session.
Mendis was the first to fall, following a relatively unthreatening delivery from Anderson Phillip, which he tried to sweep and only managed to deflect onto his stumps. Sri Lanka were 476-6.
Dinusha was eight runs short of a maiden century when King was caught at cover off Hodge.
The tail then wagged. Prabath Jayasuriya made an unbeaten 17, Milan Rathnayake made 15 and Isitha Wijesundara 14 as Sri Lanka added 73 for the seventh, eighth and ninth wickets before declaring.
The West Indies pacers toiled hard and were at times let down by their fielders, with John Campbell dropping a regular catch from Mendis at first slip off bowling Shamar Joseph.
The four West Indies fast bowlers were largely disciplined as Mendis and Dinusha scored 64 runs in the first session. Mendis showed occasional aggression against Joseph as he hit the pace bowler over backward point for six and then followed it up with back-to-back boundaries before Campbell spilled a chance in the slips cordon.
Published on July 5, 2026
