Nissanka-Karunaratne 106-run opening stand lays solid base for Sri Lanka on rain-hit first day
Brief Score: Sri Lanka 113 for 1 (Nissanka 61*, Karunaratne 42, Chase 1-33) vs West Indies
Rain dominated more than half of the first day of the second test match between Sri Lanka and the West Indies at Galle. Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and opted for bat first to put visitors to bat last on the spin-friendly Galle pitch. Pacer Dushmantha Chameera made ways for spin bowling all-rounder or debutant Charith Asalanka.
For visitors, Veerasammy Permaul and Kemar Roach replaced Rahkeem Cornwall and Shannon Gabriel in the eleven.
Poised start from Sri Lankan openers
Skipper Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka opened the batting for hosts. Nissanka put the pressure on bowlers early in his innings and dealt in boundaries. Giving Kemar Roach and Jason Holder a run for their money, Nissanka faced a close LBW appeal off the Holder.
Caribbean skipper Kraigg Brathwaite referred it to the third umpire as on-field umpire noded in the negative and ball tracking clearly showed the ball missing leg stump completely. On the other end, Karunaratne was taking his time to settle in.
The opening pair added 100 runs
First bowling change Kyle Myers conceded two swashbuckling boundaries in the first over, each from both openers. Nissanka continued to attack loose balls to accumulate quick runs while Karunaratne steadied the innings with his calmness. Nissanka kept playing his shots with freedom and smoked a huge six over long-off to spinner Veeraswamy Permaul. Nissanka took a single off Permaul to complete his third fifty in Tests.
Dimuth Karunaratne failed to make seven Test half-centuries in as many innings
As the Opening partnership was growing, Braithwaite’s patience was growing thin. He brought left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican on the attack but, Karunaratne had some other plans. He played Warrican patiently and slammed Chase for two boundaries to complete 100 runs opening-stand. However, he succumbed in the same over on 42, as he gave a return catch to the bowler. As the left-hander missed his fifty by eight runs, he missed the world record of scoring seven consecutive fifty-plus scores in test cricket.
Sri Lanka’s number thee batsman, Oshada Fernanda had some nervy moments early in his innings as Warrican took review for edge to the wicket-keeper Joshua Da Silva. West Indies lost that review as Snickometer showed no spike while ball passing the bat. As the light faded in Galle, Umpire called off the play.
What to expect on Day Two
The conditions may remain overcast on Day 2 as well with a bit of rain expected. In such a case, West Indies would like to take the advantage of the situation and bowl Sri Lanka out as quickly as they can.
On the other end, Pithum Nissanka would like to extend his unbeaten 61-run tally to a century and take Sri Lanka to a better position.
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