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.”
