Sri Lanka charged with altering ball

Sri Lanka held up play for two hours having been penalised five penalty runs ahead of the third day of the second Test against the West Indies due to a ball-tampering row.

Umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould ruled that the tourists had altered the condition of the ball at Gros Islet.

The umpires decided to change the match ball, which was 44.3 overs old, ahead of the third day in St Lucia, prompting Sri Lanka's players to stay in their dressing room.

After discussions between officials and the players, match referee Javagal Srinath upheld Gould and Dar's decision, with the five penalty runs taking the Windies to 2-123 in response to the tourists' 253 all out.

A statement on the International Cricket Council's official Twitter feed said: "The ICC can confirm the match officials in the second Test between West Indies and Sri Lanka changed the ball and awarded five penalty runs to West Indies.

"If there are any, code of conduct charges will follow as per usual at close of play."

Sri Lanka eventually took to the field at 10:50 local time - 50 minutes after the scheduled start - but there was a further delay of 40 minutes as, having taken to the field, Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal began arguing with the umpires before a delivery was bowled.

The tourists gathered on the boundary, but after further negotiations with Srinath and their coaching staff, Lahiru Kumara finally resumed his 14th over at 11:30 with a replacement ball selected by the West Indies batsmen.

Sri Lanka Cricket released a statement saying its players "have not engaged in any wrongdoing" and that the team had taken to the field "under protest".

The hosts were eventually dismissed for 300 - a first-innings advantage of 47 - with Devon Smith (61), Shane Dowrich (55) and Roston Chase (41) leading the way with the bat and Kamara (4-86) starring with the ball for Sri Lanka.

Second time around the tourists lost Kusal Perera for 20 en route to 1-34 - a deficit of 13.