ANTIGUA: West Indies’ Jason Holder took five wickets to help his side end Sri Lanka’s first innings on 169 runs on day 1 of the first Test here on Sunday.
At stumps, the West Indies’ score read 13/0, with John Campbell and Kraigg Brathwaite on the field.
West Indies began their first innings on a steady note, with openers Campbell and Brathwaite ensuring they do not lose a wicket and will resume day 2 with all wickets in hand.
Earlier, after being asked to bat first, Sri Lanka witnessed a poor start with Dimuth Karunaratne (12) getting out in just the 11th over. Opener Lahiru Thirimanne was then joined by Oshada Fernando but their partnership also did not last long as the latter got run out, bringing Dinesh Chandimal out in the middle.
Chandimal too failed to shine as he scored just four runs getting being caught behind off Jason Holder’s delivery. While other batsmen were failing to score runs, Thirimanne displayed stunning performance and tackled West Indies bowlers pretty well.
Sri Lanka kept losing wickets but Thirimanne’s fifty helped them get past the 100-run mark. Niroshan Dickwella and Thirimanne revived Sri Lanka’s innings and played cautiously. Dickwella played a knock of 32 before Holder dismissed him. Holder then picked the much-needed wicket for his side, removing Thirimanne (70). After this, Sri Lanka lost wickets in quick succession and were all out on 169 runs.
Jason Holder picked five wickets in the innings while Kemar Roach scalped three.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 169 (Lahiru Thirimanne 70, Niroshan Dickwella 32, Jason Holder 5/27); West Indies 13/0 (John Campbell 7*, Kraigg Brathwaite 3*). (ANI)
