Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne’s century, his 3rd in his last 4 innings, saw the hosts dominate day 1 of the 1st Test between Sri Lanka and the West Indies at the Galle International Cricket Stadium.
The Sri Lankan Captain did not look like a man who had not played any international or first class cricket in 7 months, batting with characteristic ease against both pace and spin. He was given a reprieve, however, on 14, when Jermaine Blackwood failed to latch on to a catch at slip off the bowling of Rakheem Cornwall.
Sri Lanka’s innings was build around Karunaratne, as it so often has been in the recent past, with Pathum Nissanka and Dhananjaya de Silva contributing with half-centuries. Karunaratne put on a steady 139 alongside Nissanka and a more aggressive 97* alongside de Silva.
Both Nissanka and de Silva were impressive as well, the former opening the batting for the 1st time in Test cricket. De Silva will be relieved to get some runs under his belt after looking out of sorts in limited overs cricket over the last few months and eventually being benched throughout the T20 World Cup, despite being vice-captain of the team.
The West Indies looked flat during most parts of the day, despite using up to 8 bowlers and will need to produce something special on day 2 if they are to restrict Sri Lanka to under 400 on what looks like a good track for batting.
Having won the toss earlier in the day, it was a no-brainer for Sri Lanka to have a bat on a fresh Galle track, with rain expected to play a role later in the game.
In an unfortunate turn of events during the 2nd session, debutant Jeremy Solozano was hit flush on the grill of his helmet, fielding at short leg and had to be stretchered off. The opening batter was taken to the hospital. West Indies Cricket, released the following on his condition, “Jeremy Solozano’s scans show no structural damage. He will be kept at the hospital overnight for observation.”
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Rahkeem Cornwall b Shannon Gabriel | 56 | 140 | 7 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | st Joshua Da Silva b Roston Chase | 147 | 300 | 15 | 0 | 49.00 |
| Oshada Fernando | c Nkrumah Bonner b Roston Chase | 3 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 11.11 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Jason Holder b Roston Chase | 3 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 12.00 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | hit-wicket b Shannon Gabriel | 61 | 95 | 5 | 0 | 64.21 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | c Rahkeem Cornwall b Roston Chase | 45 | 83 | 5 | 0 | 54.22 |
| Ramesh Mendis | c Joshua Da Silva b Jomel Warrican | 13 | 49 | 2 | 0 | 26.53 |
| Suranga Lakmal | lbw b Jomel Warrican | 11 | 44 | 2 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Dushmantha Chameera | c Kraig Brathwaite b Jomel Warrican | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lasith Embuldeniya | c Jermaine Blackwood b Roston Chase | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Praveen Jayawickrama | not out | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 19 (b 5 , lb 6 , nb 8, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 386/10 (133.5 Overs, RR: 2.88) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-139 (49.1) Pathum Nissanka, 2-164 (57.3) Oshada Fernando, 3-170 (65.1) Angelo Mathews, 4-281 (94.4) Dhananjaya de Silva, 5-296 (99.5) Dimuth Karunaratne, 6-331 (112.6) Ramesh Mendis, 7-355 (124.4) Suranga Lakmal, 8-361 (127.4) Dinesh Chandimal, 9-361 (128.1) Dushmantha Chameera, 10-386 (133.5) Lasith Embuldeniya, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shannon Gabriel | 19 | 2 | 68 | 2 | 3.58 | |
| Jason Holder | 19 | 9 | 24 | 0 | 1.26 | |
| Rahkeem Cornwall | 27 | 3 | 91 | 0 | 3.37 | |
| Kyle Mayers | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3.00 | |
| Jomel Warrican | 32 | 5 | 87 | 3 | 2.72 | |
| Roston Chase | 28.5 | 3 | 83 | 5 | 2.91 | |
| Jermaine Blackwood | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6.00 | |
| Kraig Brathwaite | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1.50 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraig Brathwaite | c Pathum Nissanka b Ramesh Mendis | 41 | 115 | 7 | 0 | 35.65 |
| Jermaine Blackwood | lbw b Lasith Embuldeniya | 20 | 44 | 1 | 1 | 45.45 |
| Nkrumah Bonner | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Praveen Jayawickrama | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 9.09 |
| Shai Hope | c Oshada Fernando b Ramesh Mendis | 10 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 32.26 |
| Roston Chase | c Oshada Fernando b Ramesh Mendis | 2 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 8.33 |
| Jomel Warrican | c Dinesh Chandimal b Praveen Jayawickrama | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12.50 |
| Kyle Mayers | c Dimuth Karunaratne b Dhananjaya de Silva | 45 | 62 | 8 | 0 | 72.58 |
| Jason Holder | c Dushmantha Chameera b Praveen Jayawickrama | 36 | 60 | 3 | 2 | 60.00 |
| Joshua Da Silva | b | 15 | 88 | 1 | 0 | 17.05 |
| Rahkeem Cornwall | c Ramesh Mendis b Suranga Lakmal | 39 | 58 | 5 | 1 | 67.24 |
| Shannon Gabriel | lbw b Praveen Jayawickrama | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 18.18 |
| Extras | 18 (b 3 , lb 10 , nb 2, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 230/10 (85.5 Overs, RR: 2.68) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-46 (20.1) Jermaine Blackwood, 2-51 (23.5) Nkrumah Bonner, 3-80 (31.6) Kraig Brathwaite, 4-83 (33.1) Shai Hope, 5-86 (36.6) Jomel Warrican, 6-100 (39.6) Roston Chase, 7-163 (57.1) Kyle Mayers, 8-175 (60.4) Jason Holder, 9-224 (79.6) Rahkeem Cornwall, 10-230 (85.5) Shannon Gabriel, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suranga Lakmal | 6 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1.67 | |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 8 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 1.75 | |
| Lasith Embuldeniya | 32 | 11 | 67 | 1 | 2.09 | |
| Praveen Jayawickrama | 19.5 | 6 | 40 | 4 | 2.05 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 17 | 1 | 75 | 3 | 4.41 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 3 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 3.67 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Shai Hope b Rahkeem Cornwall | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 27.27 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | c Jermaine Blackwood b Rahkeem Cornwall | 83 | 103 | 9 | 0 | 80.58 |
| Oshada Fernando | lbw b Jomel Warrican | 14 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 43.75 |
| Angelo Mathews | b | 69 | 83 | 6 | 0 | 83.13 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c & b Jomel Warrican | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14.29 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | b | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 125.00 |
| Extras | 11 (b 8 , lb 2 , nb 1, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 191/4 (40.5 Overs, RR: 4.68) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-4 (2.3) Pathum Nissanka, 2-39 (11.5) Oshada Fernando, 3-162 (36.3) Dimuth Karunaratne, 4-163 (38.1) Dhananjaya de Silva, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rahkeem Cornwall | 15.5 | 0 | 60 | 2 | 3.87 | |
| Jason Holder | 5 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 3.80 | |
| Roston Chase | 6 | 1 | 28 | 0 | 4.67 | |
| Jomel Warrican | 9 | 0 | 42 | 2 | 4.67 | |
| Shannon Gabriel | 4 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 5.75 | |
| Kraig Brathwaite | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraig Brathwaite | lbw b Ramesh Mendis | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Jermaine Blackwood | c Angelo Mathews b Lasith Embuldeniya | 9 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Nkrumah Bonner | not out | 68 | 220 | 0 | 0 | 30.91 |
| Shai Hope | b Ramesh Mendis | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Roston Chase | b Lasith Embuldeniya | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14.29 |
| Kyle Mayers | lbw b Ramesh Mendis | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Jason Holder | b Ramesh Mendis | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Joshua Da Silva | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Lasith Embuldeniya | 54 | 129 | 0 | 0 | 41.86 |
| Rahkeem Cornwall | c Suranga Lakmal b Praveen Jayawickrama | 13 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 28.26 |
| Jomel Warrican | c Avishka Fernando b Lasith Embuldeniya | 1 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 4.76 |
| Shannon Gabriel | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Lasith Embuldeniya | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 9 (b 0 , lb 5 , nb 2, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 160/10 (79 Overs, RR: 2.03) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-3 (3.4) Kraig Brathwaite, 2-11 (6.4) Jermaine Blackwood, 3-14 (9.1) Shai Hope, 4-15 (10.2) Roston Chase, 5-18 (11.3) Kyle Mayers, 6-18 (11.4) Jason Holder, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lasith Embuldeniya | 29 | 12 | 46 | 5 | 1.59 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 31 | 5 | 64 | 4 | 2.06 | |
| Praveen Jayawickrama | 14 | 6 | 28 | 1 | 2.00 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.00 | |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 4 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 3.00 | |
