Brathwaite finished with career-best figures of 6-29 off 11.3 overs

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite sliced through Sri Lanka’s batting line-up with a career-best six wickets to leave his side needing 244 runs to win the second Test in Colombo.

Brathwaite, who is known more for his batting, had only taken one wicket prior to this match and therefore also picked up his maiden five-wicket haul.

Starting out the day on 76/2, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and Milinda Siriwardana were the only two batsmen to make a major contribution as they scored 46 and 42 respectively.

The other batsmen struggled to mount any sort of offence as they fell one after another to Brathwaite’s off-spin. As a result, the hosts were bundled out for 206, which set the West Indies a target of 244 to win.

Brathwaite was easily the pick of the bowlers with six wickets, while Jerome Taylor and debutant Jomel Warrican chipped in with two wickets apiece.

Chasing 244 to win, the West Indies got off to an awful start as Brathwaite was given out lbw off the bowling of Dhammika Prasad for three runs.

Right after Brathwaite was dismissed, the heavens parted and the players were ushered off the field. With the rain refusing to relent, the umpires had no choice but to bring play to an end earlier than expected.

The West Indies ended day three on 20/1 and will continue batting tomorrow at 09:45 local time or 04:15 GMT.