West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell successfully survived 13 overs of the last session as the hosts remained on 13 for no loss at the end of day one in Antigua. It will give the hosts the best chance to make the most out of their batting on day two as they dominated the visitors on the opening day of the first Test at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Brathwaite followed former captain Jason Holder’s model of opting to field after winning the toss. Sri Lanka were asked to bat first and after a reasonably slow start for the visitors, Rakheem Cornwall got the breakthrough for West Indies by getting opponent captain Dimuth Karunaratne out for just 12.
A second wicket followed in the 16th over as Oshada Fernando (4) was run out by Brathwaite with a brilliant direct hit. Following that, Sri Lanka lost the wicket of Dinesh Chandimal (4) for cheap after reaching their fifty as Jason Holder claimed his first dismissal of the day.
Dhananjaya de Silva, who returned from an injury incurred in the South Africa tour, was dismissed by Kemar Roach after a 13 that first look promising. Roach followed it up with debutant Pathum Nissanka’s wicket as Sri Lanka lost 5 wickets for 92.
The 58-run partnership between opener Lahiru Thirimanne, who had been on the other end watching the wickets fall in a rather quick succession, and Niroshan Dickwella was in fact the only stand that played a part in Sri Lanka’s total of 169. Holder dismissed both Dickwella (32) and Thirimanne (70) leaving the hosts in a shambles at 160/7. Holder completed his 5-wicket haul (5/27) with the wicket of Lasith Embuldeniya, the last man to fall for Sri Lanka.
“But Kemar and myself stepped up. It was a good day for him [Kraigg Braithwaite], we didn’t lose any wicket towards the end of play which was crucial. Hopefully, we can keep it going and press on the advantage.”
