Play got underway two hours late on Day Three of the second Test between the West Indies and Sri Lanka after the tourists initially refused to take the field in the wake of an apparent ball tampering controversy.

Following concerns raised by umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould about the condition of the ball nearing the end of the second day, the Sri Lankans were advised before the start of Saturday's play that they could not continue with the existing ball. This resulted in Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal refusing to lead his team onto the field with the West Indies set to continue their innings at 118-2 in reply to Sri Lanka's first innings total of 253.