Gunaratne impresses as Sri Lanka A close in

ESPNCricinfo: Asela Gunaratne followed up an impressive 38 with two top-order wickets to help Sri Lanka A close in on victory against West Indies A, who ended day three nine wickets down in their second innings and only 55 in front.

Gunaratne first helped Sri Lanka stretch their overnight lead of 72 to 110, adding 49 for the ninth wicket with Lahiru Kumara. Then he took the wickets of Rajendra Chandrika, who failed to go past 5 for the fourth innings in a row, and Shamarh Brooks to hasten West Indies’ second-innings slide. Four West Indies batsmen got past 20, but none of them managed a half-century, with Vishaul Singh top-scoring once again with 46.

Gunaratne and offspinner Charith Asalanka took two wickets each, and Asith Fernando removed Singh for 46 as the visitors were reduced to 132 for 8. Sri Lanka were then frustrated by Gudakesh Moti-Kanhai and Keon Joseph, the ninth-wicket pair batting for 19 overs before Lakshan Sandakan trapped Moti-Kanhai in front, off the last ball of the day, to pick up his third wicket.

In the morning session, offspinner Rahkeem Cornwall picked up the last two Sri Lanka wickets to end with career-best figures of 8 for 108.

Chief Scores: West Indies A 165 for 9 (Vishaul Singh 46, Sandakan 3-47, Gunaratne 2-30, Asalanka 2-27) & 276 lead Sri Lanka A 386 (Karunaratne 131, Cornwall 8-108) by 55 runs