Shamar Joseph struck twice in his first over
Sonal Dinusha sweeps in his 43 out of a partnership of 99 with Dhananjaya de Silva
Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva were involved in a fruitful 68-run stand
First Test against West Indies at Antigua
Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva
celebrates his 13th Test hundred
ANTIGUA: Sri Lanka were bowled out for 308 on the opening day of the first Test against West Indies in Antigua with the highlight being skipper Dhananjaya de Silva’s 13th Test century. On a day where only 72.5 overs were bowled in total, West Indies’ openers saw off six deliveries without troubling the scorers.
West Indies’ decision to bowl first was vindicated very early in the Test match as Kemar Roach used extra bounce that was on offer to good effect to dismiss Pathum Nissanka in the opening over. Nishan Madushka received an early reprieve and he appeared to be taking full toll of it when he hammered a short and wide delivery from Alzarri Joseph for a six. But the bowler eventually had the last laugh as he trapped him leg before in the same over before bagging the massive wicket of Kamindu Mendis off the very next ball. While he missed his hat-trick, Alzarri had helped West Indies take early control of the Test.
Dinesh Chandimal and de Silva then joined forces to bail Sri Lanka out of trouble with a fruitful 68-run stand that also came at a good pace. While the pacers continued to pose questions often, Chandimal kept the scorecard ticking with regular boundaries. Dhananjaya also got in the groove when he hit Shamar Joseph for a couple of boundaries in the same over. The momentum had turned around completely by the lunch break following the barrage of boundaries. But post resumption, Sri Lanka suffered a big blow when Shamar bowled a top delivery to breach Chandimal’s defence for 54 scored off 67 balls (8 fours). Not only did Shamar remove the half-centurion, he also gave Sri Lanka more reasons to worry when he dismissed Kusal Mendis for a four-ball duck in the same over with the batter edging one to slip.
At 110-5, Sri Lanka were in deep trouble with the home side on the brink of having a go at the lower order. But Dhananjaya found an able partner in Sonal Dinusha. Playing in just his second Test, Dinusha stood tall alongside his skipper to rebuild the innings. Both the batters also scored boundaries at ease on a regular basis to drag the visitors past the 200-run mark as another topsy-turvy session finished on a good note for Sri Lanka.
However, the final session began with a jolt when Roach broke the threatening 99-run partnership by trapping Dinusha leg before for 43 scored off 75 balls (6 fours). West Indies’ joy was short-lived though as another vital partnership added to their frustration. This time, it was Milan Rathnayake who forged a useful stand of 64 with Dhananjaya. The skipper hit a boundary off Jayden Seales to bring up a stunning century and continued to keep the West Indies at bay. A leading edge finally gave West Indies the breakthrough they desired as Dhananjaya departed for 120 scored off 168 balls with 17 fours. A few handy boundaries from the lower order helped Sri Lanka breach the 300-run mark before getting bowled out on a day where the honours were shared.
