West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite completed his ninth Test century to place his team in a strong position at the close on the second day of the second Test against Sri Lanka. Brathwaite needed only two balls at the start of the day to reach triple figures — when he worked the second ball from Suranga Lakmal to fine leg for a single to reach the landmark off 241 balls with 11 fours.
Brathwaite ended on 126 off 311 balls with 13 fours in seven hours and shared a crucial 103-run eighth-wicket partnership with Rahkeem Cornwall which helped West Indies to 354. Cornwall reached a new highest score of 73 off just 92 balls with 10 fours and a six, to follow up his 61 in the first match last week. Sri Lanka replied with 136/3 at the close of the day.
Lahiru Thirimanne followed his scores of 70 and 76 in the first Test with 55 which provided solidity at the top of the Sri Lanka order. Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya De Silva then batted through 25 overs in an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership which was worth 59 runs at stumps when Chandimal was 34 not out and De Silva 23.
Brief scores: West Indies 354 all out (Kraigg Brathwaite 126, Rahkeem Cornwall 73; Suranga Lakmal 4/94) vs Sri Lanka 136/3 (Lahiru Thirimanne 55, Dinesh Chandimal 34 batting; Alzarri Joseph 1/31).
