Table of Contents
Sri Lanka had control of the game from Day 1, and continued to trouble the Caribbean outlet with the quality in their spin department.
The hosts decided to bat first after winning the toss. The Windies new ball bowlers seemed to have some movement off the pitch, but they couldn’t muster many rewards. Pathum Nissanka, playing just his 4th Test for the national side, played a cautious little hand in the company of his skipper as they batted the entire opening session out without much fuss.
Karunaratne took some risks with his shot-making and completed a brilliant fifty. Nissanka fell soon after completing his half-century, but not before their partnership added 139 runs for the opening wicket.
It seemed like the visiting unit pulled things back, with Roston Chase getting two more wickets quickly. Oshada Fernando was the first to walk back before Angelo Mathews tried to slog Chase unnecessarily and was caught at mid-wicket.
Runs slowed down for a bit, but Karunaratne was joined by Dhananjaya de Silva, and in his company, the former completed his 12th Test hundred. The duo added 97 runs on Day 1 and added 14 more runs on day 2 before both of them fell in quick succession.
The likes of Ramesh Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Embuldeniya chipped in with double-digit scores in the tail end to help Sri Lanka get close to 400, but they eventually bundled out for 386 runs. Chase completed a five-fer, which included the wickets of Fernando, Matthews, Karunaratne, Chandimal and Embuldeniya.
Kraigg Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood seemed to have provided a solid start with their 46-run partnership, but once the first wicket fell, Lankans had something to celebrate at regular intervals. Embuldeniya got the first scalp for Sri Lanka, and almost immediately, Jayawickrama dismissed Nkrumah Bonner a couple of overs later.
Brathwaite’s resistance ended with deception from Mendis, and was caught at leg-slip by Nissanka. A middle order collapse followed, where they lost three more wickets in the next 10 overs, with the visiting team stranded at 100/6.
Kyle Mayers, who had a sensational Test debut against Bangladesh, restored some parity with a little partnership alongside Jason Holder. Both players played the spin out well, and were cautious with the one that didn’t turn. After adding 63 runs, both batters fell in a span of three overs, leaving the side in a spot of bother.
Rakheem Cornwall’s cameo got them past the 200-mark and took them to 230 runs before getting bowled out. They conceded a 156-run lead, as Jayawickrama picked up four wickets and Ramesh Mendis returned with three.
Karunaratne stars again; Mathews gets a much-needed fifty
Dimuth Karunaratne has been Sri Lanka’s most productive batter for a while now, and he got another big contribution in the second innings, adding to his sensational 147 in the first innings. Sri Lanka had a healthy first innings lead, and they just needed to add some quick runs, which they did pretty well.
Nissanka and Fernando fell early on in the second innings, giving the Windies a glimmer of hope to produce something out of the box. But once Karunaratne and Mathews got together, the onslaught on the visiting side negated every little chance they still had.
Both players took their chances, and got some quickfire runs, especially against Gabriel and Chase. The 33-year-old southpaw got a half-century yet again, and this time, he added 123 runs with Mathews. He was dismissed for a 104-ball 83, denying him a very special twin century achievement, but Mathews soon accelerated the process and got to his half-century. They declared at 191/4 in 40.5 overs, giving the hosts a target of 348 runs.
Embuldeniya and Mendis fires the Lankan Lions to an easy win
With four sessions remaining, the target was always going to be a tricky one to defend and a tough one to chase. However, it took no time for Lasith Embuldeniya and Ramesh Mendis to take the Caribbean men out of the equation.
West Indies lost six wickets in the first 12 overs, leaving them humiliated at 18/6. Mendis did bulk of the damage in this phase of play, dismissing Brathwaite, Hope, Mayers and Holder. Nkrumah Bonner and Joshua de Silva came to the rescue for the West Indies and helped them avoid an embarrassing total.
They batted the 4th day out and got to stumps at 52/6. They continued their resistance in the first session on day five and continued until the end of the first session. De Silva got to his half-century and took his chances, whilst Bonner played things out cautiously.
They added exactly 100 runs for the 7th wicket, before Embuldeniya provided the much-needed breakthrough. Despite completing his half-century, Bonner couldn’t keep their boat sailing for long, as Mendis completed his five-fer and West Indies bundled out for 160 runs.
Dimuth Karunaratne was awarded player of the match for his sensational contribution across both innings, as the Lankans took a 1-0 lead courtesy a 187-run win here at Galle.
Brief Scores
Sri Lanka 1st innings: 386 all out in 133.5 overs (Karunaratne 147, de Silva 61; Chase 5/83)
West Indies 1st innings: 230 all out in 85.5 overs (Mayers 45; Jayawickrama 4/40)
Sri Lanka 2nd innings: 191/4 declared in 40.5 overs (Karunaratne 83, Mathews 69*)
West Indies 2nd innings: 160 all out in 79 overs (Bonner 68, de Silva 54; Mendis 5/67)
