Sangakkara completes 24th Test ton

Sri Lanka 294 for 5 (Sangakkara 135*, Samaraweera 80, Roach 3-66) v West Indies
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Kumar Sangakkara continued to make batting look easy on the second afternoon of the second Test, as he completed his 24th Test century to take Sri Lanka to 294 for five, when rain forced a premature end to proceedings at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The Sri Lanka captain ensured that that the hosts continued to stride towards a good first innings total, despite the loss of Thilan Samaraweera and Angelo Mathews to some excellent sustained pressure from the West Indies fast men.

Sangakkara raced to his hundred after lunch having ended the previous session on 84, dancing down the pitch to caress Shane Shillingford over long-on for six, before repeating the dose for the following delivery, this time for a one-bounce four. His century came in the next over and he maintained his fluency throughout the session as he continued to put away the bad balls, even amidst testing periods of good bowling from the visitors.

Dwayne Bravo outfoxed Thilan Samaraweera, laying a leg-trap for the right-hander, who had looked good for another century in what has been a prolific year for him. With a leg gully, short leg and two men out for the hook, Bravo repeatedly dug them in short, inviting Samaraweera to take on the field and clear the boundary ropes. He duly obliged in Bravo's second over of the afternoon, pulling one straight to Shane Shillingford at long-leg, to end his 170-run association with Sangakkara that had rescued his side from 34 for three.

West Indies persisted with the short stuff for Angelo Mathews, with Bravo in particular, exploiting the bounce in the Premadasa pitch to good effect, once the second new ball had been taken. Mathews looked assured against the spin of Shillingford, slamming him for a straight six early on in his innings, but rode his luck against the quick bowlers, twice mishitting the ball in the air, only for it to land agonisingly close of the diving fieldsmen. It was a good length delivery that ultimately did for him though, as an angled ball from Kemar Roach took the outside edge on its way to the keeper.

Prasanna Jayawardene then added 21 with Sangakkara before the rains came down, and the umpires decided to call an early tea, with the hosts at 294 for five. Play was called off for the day a short while later.

The overnight pair rebuilt the innings in style during the morning session, unfurling an array of classy strokes. Sangakkara and Samaraweera put on the biggest partnership for Sri Lanka against West Indies, and went in to the lunch break unbeaten, having added 115 runs to the 84 for three from the previous evening.

West Indies were flat in the field for much of the morning, adding lazy misfields to the costly missed chances from earlier in the innings. The batsmen negotiated the spinners with ease, advancing down the wicket to drive down the ground, then sitting back to hit through the off-side once the adjustment in length was made for the next delivery. Sangakkara drove through the covers to scintillating effect and together with Samaraweera, made full use of a pitch that retained little of its bite and liveliness from the opening exchanges of the match.