ANTIGUA: A resilient century from captain Dhananjaya de Silva helped Sri Lanka recover from a disastrous start to post 308 all out in 71.5 overs in the first day of the first Test against the West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound on Thursday.
With only 72.5 overs possible on a rain-affected opening day, the West Indies openers managed to safely negotiate six balls before stumps.
After electing to bowl first, the hosts made an immediate impact as veteran pacer Camer Roach took advantage of the extra bounce provided to dismiss Pathum Nissanka in the opening over.
Nishan Madushka was given an early reprieve and Alzari hit Joseph for a six. However, the fast bowler responded brilliantly, trapping him leg before the wicket later in the over and dismissing Mendis on the very next ball.
Although he missed out on a hat-trick, Alzari’s double-strike made Sri Lanka stumble in the early stages. Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya then steadied the innings with a fluent 68-run partnership.
Chandimal kept the scoreboard moving with routine boundaries despite pressure from the West Indies pace attack, while Dhananjaya remained confident, hitting Shamar Joseph for two boundaries in the same over as Sri Lanka seized momentum before lunch.
The hosts hit back after the break when Shamar Joseph produced a brilliant delivery to bowl Chandimal after his half-century. He then struck again in the same over, dismissing Kusal Mendis at slip as Sri Lanka struggled at 110-5.
With the visitors in deep trouble, captain Dhananjaya Sonal received valuable support from Dinusha. Dinusha, playing only her second Test, showed composure beyond her experience.
Both rotated the strike effectively and punished the loose balls, constantly finding boundaries to take Sri Lanka past 200.
The skipper top-scored with 120 off 168 balls with 17 fours while Dinusha scored 43 off 75 balls with 6 fours. Milan Ratnayake scored 27 runs off 52 balls with 3 fours.
Justin Greaves led the Caribbean side’s bowling with figures of 3-39 from 11 overs. Shamar Joseph, Alzari Joseph and Kemar Roach took 2 wickets each and Jaden Seals took one wicket.