Left-handed Dimuth Karunaratne stroked a superb 139 as Sri Lanka ‘A’ took control of the 1st unofficial Test match against the touring West Indies ‘A’ at Hambanthota after the completion of day 1.
The Lankan skipper Upul Tharanga won the toss of coin and elected to bat first on a belter of a pitch. The hosts lost their Captain, Upul Tharanga for 4 runs when he was caught behind by Chadwick Walton off Shannon Gabrield in the 5th over. Another left-hander, Lahiru Thirimanne joined Karunaratne and the 2nd wicket pair batted with extreme ease as they accumulated runs at ease. The visitors were on top of their game until the final stages of the 1st session but both the left-handers handled the pressure efficiently as they were 63/1 in 27 overs at lunch.
Dimuth was a treat to watch as he played his natural shots all over the ground and he used his feat fantastically to get down the pitch and score runs off the spinners. Dimuth got to his century with an elegant boundary as he took 168 balls to score another first-class century. The Lankan Test discard was finally dismissed by Carlos Braithwaite in the 79th over for a well-compiled 139 in 234 deliveries and it included 14 fours. Dimuth’s dismissal brought an end to a dominating 217-run partnership with Thirimanne.
Lahiru Thirimanne showed great amounts of concentration levels as he was rock solid from his end and he was well-supported by Dinesh Chandimal in the final few overs of the 1st day. Sri Lanka ended the day on a healthy 261/2 in 90 overs with two set batsman, Lahiru Thirimanne (85*) and Dinesh Chandimal (29* remaining unbeaten.
The match will be continued tomorrow on Sunday.
