BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AFP) — West Indies captain Jason Holder won the toss and chose to bat first at the start of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.

West Indies hold a 1-0 lead in the series going into the first-ever day/night Test to be played in the Caribbean and the tenth overall since the first was staged in Adelaide in 2015 between Australia and New Zealand.

No team from the Indian sub-continent has ever won a Test match at the venue and Sri Lanka’s prospects of a series-levelling win were made even more difficult with captain Dinesh Chandimal serving a one-match suspension after being found guilty of ball tampering during the drawn second Test in St Lucia.

Danushka Gunathilaka has taken Chandimal’s place in the batting line-up with seamer Suranga Lakmal leading the tourists for this historic fixture.

Their woes have been compounded with left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who was dropped for the second Test, ruled out on the eve of the series finale after splitting the webbing in his bowling hand at fielding practice.

Sri Lanka’s selection options were further reduced with leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay sent home from the tour for what has been described as a violation of his tour contract. It is believed to be a disciplinary offence.

West Indies have no such challenges to cope with and have made one change to the team that featured in the first two Tests with all-rounder Keemo Paul given a debut at the expense of medium-pacer Miguel Cummins.

Teams

West Indies: Jason Holder (captain), Kraigg Brathwaite, Devon Smith, Kieran Powell, Shai Hope, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich (wicketkeeper), Devendra Bishoo, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel.

Sri Lanka: Suranga Lakmal (captain), Danushka Gunathilaka, Mahela Udawatte, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wicketkeeper), Akila Dananjaya, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha.

Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG), Ian Gould (ENG)

Match Referee: Javagal Srinath