An unbroken 95-run stand between Wavell Hinds and Brian Lara consolidated West Indies's reply against Sri Lanka on the second day of the first Test on Saturday.
West Indies reached 161 for two in their first innings at the close. Earlier, the tourists, who had resumed on 250 for four, were bowled out for 354 with Corey Collymore taking five for 66.
Hinds (74 not out) and Lara (36 not out) came together after the home side had slipped to 66 for two.
Openers Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga set off at a brisk rate, with most of the runs coming from boundaries.
Ganga scored 12 but then played across the line to Chaminda Vaas and was lbw.
Gayle and Hinds continued to look for big scoring shots. Thilan Samaraweera was on the receiving end as Gayle hit a four and Hinds a six in the 12th over.
The pair put on 48 runs but Gayle (27) was undone by a Muttiah Muralitharan delivery that turned sharply to trap him lbw.
Lara made his intentions clear right from the off by driving Muralitharan for four from his first ball.
The West Indies skipper made liberal use of the sweep to dominate the spinners, and Hinds followed suit with another mighty six lofted over the mid-wicket fence off Muralitharan.
Hinds took 57 balls to reach his half-century, and did so with a powerful straight drive off Prabath Nissanka.
Earlier, Marvan Atapattu top-scored for Sri Lanka with 118. He was the first wicket to fall in the ninth over of the morning, flashing at a Hinds delivery to be caught by Lara in the slips.
West Indies gained the initiative with three wickets in the morning session but Sri Lanka, who were 288 for eight shortly before lunch, eked out 66 runs for the last two wickets.
Vaas, who scored 38 batting at nine, shared a 38-run stand with Muralitharan for the ninth wicket before adding a further 28 with Nissanka for the 10th.
"It took longer than we thought to get rid of the tail-enders. It was a difficult pitch to bowl on and we just had to stick at it," Collymore told reporters.
