The West Indies grabbed three wickets in the morning session to boost their chances of gaining a big lead in the opening Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday.

Sri Lanka lost former captain Mahela Jayawardene (59), Thilan Samaraweera (52) and Angelo Mathews (27) before reaching 264-6 in their first innings at lunch on the penultimate day in reply to the West Indies' 580-9 declared.