Dhananjaya de Silva's unbeaten 153 and his unbroken 107-run ninth-wicket stand with Lasith Embuldeniya (25*) steered Sri Lanka to a position of firm control at stumps on Day 4 of the second Test match against West Indies, in Galle. They reached 328/8, ahead by 279 at the close of play.
De Silva walked to the middle when Sri Lanka were just 23 runs ahead, with seven wickets in hand. He and Pathum Nissanka (66) added 78 for the fourth wicket to take Sri Lanka to relative safety before the latter was pinned leg before by Roston Chase (2-82). Dinesh Chandimal did not last long, as Chase caught off his own bowling to remove him. Sri Lanka were 157/5 at this point.
Ramesh Mendis (25) and De Silva then steadied the ship, stitching 51 before the former was dismissed by Kraigg Brathwaite (1-12). Suranga Lakmal and the injured Angelo Mathews departed cheaply, to Veerasammy Permaul (3-100) before de Silva and Embuldeniya held the fort and put Sri Lanka on the driver’s seat. In fact, with three quality spinners in their roster, they would fancy their chances of completing a 2-0 sweep on the final day.
Earlier, Sri Lanka resumed the day on 46/2. Debutant Charith Asalanka (19) did not manage to add much to his overnight score before de Silva came to the crease and took the game away from West Indies, albeit after being dropped twice off Permaul.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 204 (Pathum Nissanka 73; Veerasammy Permaul 5-35) and 328/8 (Dhananjaya de Silva 153*; Veerasammy Permaul 3-100) lead West Indies 253 (Kraigg Brathwaite 72; Ramesh Mendis 6-70) by 279 runs.