Galle, Nov 21: An unbeaten hundred by captain Dimuth Karunaratne and his century opening stand with Pathum Nissanka put Sri Lanka in the driver’s seat on the opening day of the first Test against the West Indies at the Galle International Stadium here.
Sri Lanka finished the opening day with 267 for three on the board with Karunaratne going strong on 132 and Dhananjaya de Silva building on 56 before umpires called stumps after 88 overs of play. Roston Chase proved to be the pick of the bowlers, snaring two wickets for 42 runs.
Karunaratne won the toss and elected to bat, and was joined by Pathum Nissanka to open the innings. Unable to make an early breakthrough, the West Indies turned to the off-spin of Rahkeem Cornwall, who kept things tight against the right-left combination.
Karunaratne continued on his rich vein of form and smashed his third consecutive Test hundred in three matches. Dhananjaya too joined the party with a half-century to restrict any further damage before the end of the play. (IANS)
