Earlier, Samuels smashed an unbeaten 110 to guide the West Indies to a competitive 206-9.

Samuels, 34, anchored the innings with his 95-ball knock, hitting one six and 15 fours in the day-night game.

The visitors, who lost the first two ODIs, were off to a disastrous start after being put in to bat at the Pallekele stadium. Paceman Lasith Malinga (2-43) tasted success in the first over, having opener Johnson Charles caught off the fourth ball by Tillakaratne Dilshan. Andre Fletcher (six) was trapped leg before off Suranga Lakmal while Dilshan took another catch off Malinga to send back Jermaine Blackwood.

Denesh Ramdin lobbed a short ball from Dushmantha Chameera to wicketkeeper Perera who lunged forward to complete a neat catch and leave West Indies reeling at 18-4. Samuels then rebuilt the innings almost single-handedly, reaching his second successive half-century and ninth ODI ton in the process. Sri Lanka had swept the preceding Test series 2-0. (AFP)

The hosts lead the series 1-0 following their emphatic innings victory in Galle and also look set to win the Sobers-Tissera Trophy which is on offer for the first time.

The national selectors have decided to include another promising youngster Kusal Mendis while replacing the out of form Lahiru Thirimanne who has struggled for runs during the recent past.

Rangana Herath will the vice-captain for the match.

The former Sri Lanka U19 World Cup captain has really forced himself into recognition following a series of good scores for the Sri Lanka A team and for the Development Squad during a recent series in India.

In addition controversial spinner Tharindu Kaushal has been left out and his place will be taken by all-rounder Dilruwan Perera who will be making a comeback having played his previous Test match against Pakistan in June this year.

Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews welcomed the inclusion of new cap Kusal Mendis but also emphasised that the left out players could always make a comeback in the future.

“We know every player goes through a rough patch in their career and I hope the players left out will soon bounce back. But at the moment we don’t have any choices so we got to make that call” said Mathews.

“Kusal Mendis has earned his place in the side and hope that he will grab that opportunity and cement his place in the side. We are not going to put a lot of pressure on him and we can’t expect wonders from him. There will be nervous times for him but we will be there to help him out. As the team captain I will back him all the way. He has the talent and I hope that he will come out good” added the Sri Lanka captain.

Mathews also expected the West Indies to bounce back after their setback in Galle and said that the team will need to play positively if they are to complete a 2-0 whitewash.

“There is a little bit of bounce than it was in Galle. But it looks really dry so the spinners will come into play. Regardless of the wicket we will have to play some good cricket. We got to pick a team which could win the game and I am pretty sure if we could play to our potential we can win the game” added Mathews.

Despite their success in the opening Test, Mathews believed that there is still plenty of room for improvement as the team look to make an impact at a venue which has produced a result in the last ten games.

“As a team we are looking at an improvement in all departments. We can still fine tune in batting, bowling and fielding and we always try to keep on improving and to be as clinical as possible.”

Meanwhile the West Indies are likely to make at least one change to their side with Rajendra Chandrika set to replace opening batsman Shai Hope in the line-up.

Even then, they still face a daunting task to regroup and to bounce back with their bowling area as the main concern having conceded nearly 500 runs to their opponents in the first Test.

No doubt the Caribbean islanders will be inspired with the legendary all-rounder Sir Garfield Sobers been present at the venue as a chief guest.

The teams:

Sri Lanka (from): Angelo Mathews (captain), Rangana Herath (vice-captain), Kaushal Silva, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Kusal Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera.

West Indies (from): Jason Holder (captain), Kraigg Brathwaite (vice-captain), Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Rajendra Chandrika, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shai Hope, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Jomel Warrican.

Free entry for schoolboys

School cricketers and schoolboys will have free entrance to witness the second Test match between Sri Lanka and the West Indies for the Sobers-Tissera Trophy, which begins at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo today.

Legendary cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers and former national captain Michael Tissera will be the chief guest at this match.

School cricketers and schoolboys are requested to come in with their respective school uniform to receive free entry to the venue.

Sri Lanka are rebuilding following the retirement of their batting greats, Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara, within the space of a year.

The West Indies, already hit by the reluctance of senior pros like Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo to play Test cricket, faced further turmoil when coach Phil Simmons was stood down for the tour for speaking out against his board’s selection policies.

Former fast bowler and selector Eldine Baptiste, who will serve as interim coach for the tour, will try to ease newly-appointed Test captain Jason Holder into the role.

Holder, a 23-year-old all-rounder who has played just eight Tests, was a surprise choice to replace the seasoned Denesh Ramdin as captain.

“We have a very young team and a young captain,” Baptiste said. “My job is to keep the team focused for the Test matches.”

The West Indies are searching for their maiden Test win on Sri Lankan soil, where they have played nine matches since 1993 — losing five and drawing the other four.

Both teams will look to bounce back after a lacklustre year.

The West Indians lost to South Africa and Australia, while the home series against England was drawn 1-1.

Angelo Mathews’ Sri Lanka crashed to a 2-0 series defeat in New Zealand and lost home series to Pakistan and India by identical 2-1 margins.

Like their rivals, Sri Lanka too have an interim coach in Jerome Jayaratne, who was given charge of the team after Marvan Atapattu resigned in the wake of the defeat against India.

Jayaratne, who did not play international cricket but made his mark as head of the Sri Lankan board’s coaching department, has already described Mathews’ boys as the “worst fielding side in Asia”.

He refused to take victory for granted against the young touring side.

“I would like to believe that we have a better chance of getting back to winning ways, but I definitely won’t underestimate them,” he said.

Only two players from either side have played more than 50 Tests — Mathews and Rangana Herath for Sri Lanka and batsman Marlon Samuels and Ramdin for the West Indies.

Herath, the 37-year-old left-arm spinner, could prove to be the difference when the first Test starts at the picturesque Galle International Stadium, a venue that traditionally favours spin.

Herath took seven for 48 against India in August, helping Sri Lanka bounce back to win that Test by 63 runs.

In June Pakistani spin twins Yasir Shar and Zulfiqar Babar combined to grab 13 wickets between them as Sri Lanka suffered a 10-wicket defeat at the same venue.

In the absence of star spinner Sunil Narine, who was not picked for the Tests, the West Indies will rely on leg-break bowler Devendra Bishoo, who has claimed 50 wickets in 13 Tests so far.

Sri Lanka’s batting in the absence of Jayawardene and Sangakkara will revolve around skipper Mathews, who hit three centuries in the home Tests against Pakistan and India.

Sri Lanka (from) – Angelo Mathews (capt), Lahiru Thirmanne, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Rangana Herath, Dhammika Prasad, Kusal Perera, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Pradeep, Tharindu Kaushal, Suranga Lakmal, Dilruwan Perera, Milinda Siriwardena, Kusal Mendis.

West Indies (from) – Jason Holder (capt), Kraig Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Rajendra Chandrika, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shai Hope, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Jomel Warric

(AFP) West Indies squandered a promising position, losing their last nine wickets for 85 runs to be dismissed for 148 in their first innings on the opening day of the first Test against Australia in Dominica on Wednesday.

At stumps, Australia were 85 for three in reply, the in-form Steve Smith and debutant Adam Voges set to resume on the second morning after the home bowlers battled hard to prevent the visitors from completely dominating day one. Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson led the rout of the West Indies with three wickets each on a surface that held few terrors for the batsmen.
Fellow pacer Mitchell Starc chimed in with two scalps as the bowlers were complemented by excellence in the field, Australian Captain Michael Clarke leading the way with three catches in the slip cordon.
“We bowled well as a group today on a pitch that offered a bit of seam movement throughout the day,” said Hazlewood.
“I suppose I’m a bit luckier than the other guys who have just arrived as I got to play in that one warm-up match to help get accustomed to the conditions here.”
West Indies skipper, Denesh Ramdin, may be regretting the decision to bat first on winning the toss but the continuous clatter of Caribbean wickets had as much to do with indiscipline batting as aggressive, persevering bowling.
Ramdin himself was the seventh wicket to fall in the midst of the afternoon capitulation, a hopeful 30-run partnership with Jason Holder ended by the pace and accuracy of Johnson.
Despite an encouraging platform at 63 for one, the home slipped into deep trouble by losing five wickets for 28 runs either side of the lunch interval.
Experienced left-hander Darren Bravo took 14 deliveries to get off the mark and was just getting into stride when an attempt to play a forcing shot through the off side produced an outside edge for Clarke to snare an excellent catch.
It gave Nathan Lyon his first wicket and left him three away from surpassing Hugh Trumble as Australia’s most successful Test off-spinner ever.
Shai Hope, Brathwaite’s opening partner, played a few expansive drives but chased one wide delivery too many off Johnson for Marsh to take the diving catch at gully and send the batsman back to the pavilion for what proved to be the innings top score of 36.
“We didn’t make the most of the opportunity at all,” said Hope.
“The pitch is a bit slow but it’s still decent to bat on. We’ll have to be consistent with our lines and lengths tomorrow to stay in the match.”
Shane Dowrich was the first wicket to fall after lunch, playing on to Hazlewood, who then promptly removed Jermaine Blackwood to another Clarke catch.
Marlon Samuels, the most experienced West Indies player following the omission of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, played cautiously for 40 minutes only to fall to a top-edged hook off Starc for just seven, the irrepressible Hazlewood judging the catch well at fine leg.
Voges, Australia’s 11th oldest debutant in the traditional form of the game at the age of 35 had his moment of the day in taking an excellent diving catch to account for Jerome Taylor off the leg-spin of Smith, a day after the part-time bowler’s 26th birthday.
It was Taylor who removed David Warner at the start of Australia’s reply.
Jason Holder accounted for Shaun Marsh and West Indies hopes were lifted further when Clarke edged an attempted cut off leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo into the gloves of Ramdin, giving the wicketkeeper his 200th dismissal in Test cricket.

Cap- Australian bowler Mitchell Johnson jumps in the air after getting out West Indies Denesh Ramdin by breaking the wicket,

West Indies 1st Innings
K. Brathwaite c Haddin b Hazlewood 10
S. Hope c Marsh b Johnson 36
D. Bravo c Clarke b Lyon 19
S. Dowrich b Hazlewood 15
M. Samuels c Hazlewood b Starc 07
J. Blackwood c Clarke b Hazlewood 02
D. Ramdin b Johnson 19
J. Holder c Marsh b Starc 21
J. Taylor c Voges b Smith 06
D. Bishoo not out 09
S. Gabriel c Clarke b Johnson 02
Extras (w-1, nb-1) 02
Total (53.5 overs, all out) 148
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-63, 3-75, 4-85, 5-87, 6-91, 7-121, 8-133, 9-144, 10-148.
Bowling: Johnson 13.5-2-34-3 (1nb), Hazlewood 15-7-33-3 (1w), Starc 15-5-48-2, Lyon 6-1-20-1, Watson 3-1-11-0, Smith 1-0-2-1
Australia 1st Innings
D. Warner c Blackwood b Taylor 08
S. Marsh c Bravo b Holder 19
S. Smith not out 17
M. Clarke c Ramdin b Bishoo 18
A. Voges not out 20
Extras (nb-3) 03
Total (30 overs, 3 wickets) 85
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-38, 3-61
To bat: Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
Bowling: Taylor 8-0-19-1 (1nb), Gabriel 6-1-20-0 (2nb), Holder 7-2-14-1, Bishoo 9-1-32-1