A testing morning spell from the West Indies attack, under mildly overcast conditions, left Sri Lanka struggling at 148 for 3 on the third morning in Galle, after they lost their overnight batsmen by lunch.
There was movement, pace, spin and bounce, all of which made matters difficult for the hosts, and despite the presence of the experienced Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera in the middle, Sri Lanka went to the break knowing they had a steep climb ahead of them.West Indies didn't have to wait long for their first wicket of the morning as Tharanga Paranavitana, who had poked, prodded and wafted for 10 during his agonising 53-ball stay, was eventually put out of misery by Kemar Roach, who jagged one back in to uproot the off stump. West Indies' seamers had beaten Paranavitana's edge on numerous occasions, both last evening and this morning, and the opener never looked like making a substantial contribution to the Sri Lankan recovery effort.
Kumar Sangakkara was characteristically classy in his 73, combining measured defense with a spate of serene cover drives off the seamers, while negotiating the lone spinner, Shane Shillingford, with relative ease, despite the turn and bounce on offer. The Sri Lanka captain raced to his half-century in 45 deliveries after having ended the previous day's play on 33 off 32 balls, but adopted a more watchful approach after the milestone, following the loss of Paranavitana.
Dwayne Bravo persevered with a good length outside the off stump for Sangakkara throughout the attritional session, with a short cover in place in the hope of enticing an aerial drive. But it was the change-up yorker that did the job for Bravo. After Sangakkara had watched ball after ball fly through to the keeper, a terrific delivery that angled in from round the wicket sneaked under the bat to peg back the middle stump.
While Sangakkara's patience was tested at one end from Bravo, Mahela was facing an interrogation of his own from Shillingford, bowling from the Fort End. Mahela had twice advanced down the track to whip the spinner over midwicket, but struggled whenever he attempted to hit against the turn. He survived a couple of extremely close lbw shouts - one which was unsuccessfully reviewed by West Indies, and another that they wrongly chose not to refer - in addition to almost chopping onto the stumps, attempting to cut too close to his body. Darren Sammy kept the pressure on right through the morning session for Shillingford, adding a fourth fielder to the trio of close-in catchers that awaited a mistake from the batsmen. The foot is likely to remain firmly on the Sri Lankans' throats as they resume their effort to come into this Test match after lunch.
