Karunaratne’s 13th Test hundred puts Sri Lanka in strong position

Sri Lanka's Captain Dimuth Karunaratne celebrates after scoring a century during the first day of the first Test cricket match between Sri Lanka and West Indies at the Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on 21 November – AFP

Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya de Silva celebrates after scoring a half-century during the first day of the first Test cricket match between Sri Lanka and West Indies at the Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on 21 November – AFP 

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka celebrates after scoring a half-century during the first day of the first Test cricket match between Sri Lanka and West Indies at the Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on 21 November – AFP

For a cricketer who had not played any form of competitive cricket for the past six months, Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne showed little or no signs of rustiness as he carved out his 13th Test hundred to put his team in a strong position at the end of day one of the first Sobers – Tissera trophy Test against West Indies at the Galle International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Winning the toss and taking first lease of a traditional Galle track, which is expected to help the spinners as the match progresses, Karunaratne ensured that his team ended on top, scoring an undefeated 132*, batting the entire day in a display of concentration and application, hitting 13 fours in his 265-ball stay at the wicket.

The compact left-hander made West Indies pay dearly for giving him a reprieve at 14 when Jermaine Blackwood dropped a tough chance off an outside edge off Rahkeem Cornwall at slip, to forge two lengthy partnerships that pushed the West Indies onto the backfoot.

In the absence of Lahiru Thirimanne, who is on paternity leave in Australia, Karunaratne had a new opening partner in young Pathum Nissanka, fresh from a successful T20 World Cup in the UAE. Nissanka, who is impressing with every innings he plays regardless of the format, adapted to his new role as a Test opener quickly, helping his captain in a 139-run stand for the first wicket, which was a new record against the West Indies, surpassing the 130 by Michael Vandort and Malinda Warnapura at Providence in 2008.

Both batsmen had their anxious moments; Nissanka against the pace and bounce of Gabriel getting hit on the right-hand and receiving medical attention on the field, and Karunaratne against Cornwall, who was introduced as early as the sixth over. However, both batsmen rode the storm and their luck to be unseparated at lunch at 61-0, with West Indies having missed taking the crucial wicket of Karunaratne.

It was an unhappy morning session for the West Indies as apart from the dropped catch they also lost two reviews and saw their Test debutant and opening bat Jeremy Solozano; being stretchered off the field after copping a nasty blow flush on the grill of his helmet off a powerful pull shot from Karunaratne off Roston Chase while fielding at short leg.

Solozano was rushed by ambulance to Nawaloka Hospital in Colombo. Reports said that scans on Solozano showed no structural damage but he will be kept at the hospital overnight for observation.

In the afternoon session, West Indies managed to break the opening partnership when Nissanka chased a wide half volley from Gabriel and offered Cornwall at first slip a catch to depart for a spirited innings of 56 off 140 balls (seven fours). However, Karunaratne, growing in confidence, moved to within 11 runs of his hundred at the break when Sri Lanka were 163/1.

The start of the final session saw West Indies come back strongly by snapping the wickets of Oshada Fernando and Angelo Mathews cheaply, both being dismissed for three apiece by off-spinner Roston Chase. A lot of credit has to go to Jason Holder for those dismissals as he brought undue pressure on the batsmen by bowling a tight line and length conceding just one run in a four-over spell (three maidens).

However, the arrival of Dhananjaya de Silva to the wicket livened things up for Sri Lanka as he got into his stride straightaway and started batting fluently, dominating an unbroken partnership of 97 with his captain. By stumps he had reached his ninth Test fifty, and was unbeaten on 56* scored off 77 balls inclusive of five fours. The second new ball taken by West Indies failed to produce a wicket as Sri Lanka scored over a hundred runs in each of the last two sessions.

The West Indies bowlers, deprived of any match practice since they arrived due to their four-day warm-up game being washed out by bad weather, struggled to maintain a consistent line and length and the number of loose balls were dispatched with ease to the boundary by the Lankan batsmen. They were also not helped by their poor catching that has placed Sri Lanka in a strong position to press for a big total on a pitch that is showing signs of taking spin.