Dimuth Karunaratne’s thirteenth Test ton gave Sri Lanka the distinctions on the first day of the season of the principal Test in Galle on Sunday (November 21). The Sri Lankan commander, having selected to bat, was associated with a 139-run opening stand with Pathum Nissanka and an undefeated 97-run relationship for the fourth wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva to take Sri Lanka to 267/3. West Indies didn’t get a solitary wicket in the principal meeting while half-centurion Nissanka was the main wicket to fall in the second. Despite the fact that they dealt with several strikes in the last meeting, Karunaratne’s proceeded with presence (132*) didn’t allow West Indies to wrest control at any stage on the first day of the season.
Karunaratne, playing his first worldwide game since May, proceeded from where he left off against Bangladesh as he recorded 100 in his third progressive Test. De Silva moved toward his innings with a great deal of certainty also, getting to his 10th Test fifty and finished the day on 56 not out off 77 – which was near 54% of the runs scored by Sri Lanka in the last meeting.
The hosts picked the attritional course to wear out the West Indian bowlers in the principal meeting as Karunaratne and Nissanka put on a patient 50 years stand. Notwithstanding being upset by short conveyances from Shannon Gabriel and furthermore striving a piece against the spinners, Nissanka coarseness it out to help his captain. Karunaratne, who was dropped from the get-go in his innings by Jermaine Blackwood off Rahkeem Cornwall, played some certain shots to broaden the initial remain past 50 preceding Lunch. West Indies, in the mean time, lost several surveys.
In a disastrous occurrence late in the principal meeting, debutant Jeremy Solozano was struck hard on the grille of his head protector at short leg by a shot from Karunaratne off Roston Chase. He was stretchered off the field and taken in an emergency vehicle to a clinic for filters. Cricket West Indies laterrevealed in a tweet that “examines show no primary harm. He will be kept at the clinic short-term for perception.”
The Sri Lankan openers got going with standard limits toward the beginning of the subsequent meeting, some of them full of hazard. Yet, West Indies’ bowlers weren’t by and large on the imprint either, bowling some free conveyances which were taken care of properly. Karunaratne wasn’t generally in charge of his shots, edging some of them for limits, yet he proceeded to enlist his fifth fifty or more score on the jog to give a strong base to Sri Lanka. Despite the fact that Nissanka took 133 conveyances to raise his fifty, he was much more familiar with his shot-production after Lunch. Yet, Nissanka strolled back in disillusionment a brief time in the wake of getting to his third fifty or more score in as numerous innings against West Indies, pursuing a wide half-volley from Shannon Gabriel to edge to initially slip.
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Oshada Fernando had an early relief as Jomel Warrican put down an extreme bring get back. The No. 3 stayed unbeaten alongside Karunaratne to guarantee one more meeting had a place with Sri Lanka, who scored at almost 3.5 an over in the subsequent meeting. Fernando, nonetheless, fell in the first over after Tea, with Nkrumah Bonner taking a decent reflex catch at short leg to give Chase his first wicket. The offspinner additionally sent Angelo Mathews back as the hitter fizzled in his endeavor to go over the profound midwicket fence.
Karunaratne’s fixation wasn’t impacted by the excusals, however, as he arrived at his fourth Test ton at Galle and second against West Indies. He got great help from De Silva. who batted with a sound strike rate and out-scored his skipper in a fifty-run stand that came in 11.2 overs. West Indies settled on the second new ball when it was free however it didn’t give them any pleasure and on second thought they saw de Silva score a couple of more limits to raise a 62-ball 50. With two overs staying in the day, the umpires considered the light was not sufficient and called stumps.
Brief scores : Sri Lanka 267/3 (Dimuth Karunaratne 132*, Dhananjaya de Silva 56, Pathum Nissanka 56; Roston Chase 2-42, Shannon Gabriel 1-56) vs West Indies.