Karunaratne who opened the innings with Kaushal Silva, lost his partner after putting on 56 runs for the first wicket, but shouldered the responsibility to remain unbeaten with Dinesh Chandimal to take the score from 101 for 2 when vice captain Lahiru Thirimanne fell cheaply for 16. Karunaratne spent 378 minutes facing 288 deliveries with ten fours and a six off Bishoo to reach his three figure mark, while Dinesh Chandimal who rode his luck when he was dropped by Jerome Taylor at mid-wicket when his individual score was 11 and the total 129 made the visitors had to pay dearly for the miss as the pair batted with growing confidence.

The Windies who relied heavily on their pace quartet were unable to make much of an impact on a placid pitch. They showed some aggression in the morning, as skipper Jason Holder rotated his pacemen in short spells. But with the pitch losing it’s zest, both Karunaratne and Chandimal assumed command. Even the second new ball taken at 218 for 2 was unable to provide the break through as the pair went on relentlessly till the close .

Angelo Mathews won the toss and straight away elected to bat on a pitch looked ideal for batting. Milinda Siriwardene made his Test debut . Siriwardene an utility player who could bat in any position and an useful left arm spin bowler had been knocking at the door with some good performances against Pakistan and a century against the tourists in a three day game made a strong claim for representative honours and was finally rewarded.

Mathews who knows the Galle pitch like the back of his hand s said prior to the commencement of the match that the wicket looked a typical one of Galle with lot of runs and was hoping for a revival of fortunes with a good display. Sri Lanka took the field with seven batsmen and two spinners and with the inclusion of Milinda Siriwardene the team had an additional bowler. West Indies captain expressed his views on the toss and said he too would have preferred to bat first , but expressed his confidence on his bowlers.

The Sri Lankan openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva batted cautiously amidst a steady West Indian pace attack of Jerome Taylor , Kemer Roache Jason Holder and Shannon Gabriel who gave nothing away as the openers had to fight for every run against the strong West Indian pace quartet . The first hour of the morning produced 32 runs in 13 overs without the openers being separated. Karunaratne ( 21) and Kaushal Silva (10) was consolidating the innings . In the process Silva was struck on his helmet off a nasty Shanon

Gabriel delivery . Dimuth Karunaratne at the other end was gradually working himself towards his half century with some sensible batting. The West Indians attack was mainly concentrated in their pace attack. With the score reading 56 for no loss Kemer Roach got the break- through for the visitors when Kaushal Silva who looked susceptible outside his off stump edged one for Denesh Ramdhin the wicket keeper to complete the catch.

Lahiru Thirimanne walked in at number three needing a good innings to boost his confidence and to justify his selection after a series of failures. Thirimanne after pushing a prodding for a while opened up swinging Bishoo to the mid wicket boundary ,but was soon on his way to the pavilion when he was caught at mid-wicket he faced sixty two deliveries and did not look convincing at all.. He added 45 runs with Karunaratne and flicked one to substitute fielder Chandrika .

Batting all-rounder Siriwardena has been rewarded for making an encouraging start to his ODI career while Kusal Mendis had the honour of captaining the Sri Lanka U19 team during last year’s Youth World Cup.

Both Siriwardena and Mendis are currently playing in the three-day practice match against the West Indies which commenced at the SSC ground in Maitland Place yesterday.

However the national selectors have left out two veterans Upul Tharanga and Jehan Mubarak who made their appearances in the recent series’ against Pakistan and India respectively.

The Sri Lanka squad: Angelo Mathews (captain), -Lahiru Thirimanne (vice captain), Kaushal Silva, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Milinda Siriwardene, Kusal Mendis, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Tharindu Kaushal, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera. (CD)

Sri Lanka and Pakistan will renew their rivalry in the One Day format when the two teams meet each other in a day game starting today at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium

Pakistan having already clinched the Test series 2/1 has been elevated to number three in the Test ranking , will now look forward to winning the ODI series against Sri Lanka which will make them eligible to take part in the 2017 Champions Trophy to be held in England.

Pakistan at the moment is placed ninth in the ICC ODI rankings, and they will have to beat Sri Lanka to go one step up and occupy the number eight spot to play in the Champions Trophy.

While the visitors will go all out to achieve their objective ,Sri Lanka will try to make amends by winning the series as they did on the last occasion when the two teams met last August. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan at the same venue.

The Lankans with the return of veteran T.M.Dilshan, explosive opener Kusal Janith Perera and with the experience of Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirmanne, Upul Tharanga, Dinesh Chandimal and Thisara Perera should hold the batting together.

The return of Lasith Malinga along with Seekuge Prasanna and Sachitra Senanayake should provide variety in the bowling.

The Pakistanis too are in a team building process. They will be led by Azhar Ali the prolific run scorer. And there are wicket keeper Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammed Hafeez Ahmed Shehzad, and Ashad Shafiq. With the absence of Riyaz Wahab who was injured during the first Test in Galle, the six foot seven inch Mohammed Irfan Rahat Ali and Yasir Shah should form a good combination.

The teams:

Sri Lanka (from): Angelo Mathews (Captain) T.M.Dilshan, Kusal Janith Perera, Upul Tharanga, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal, Milinda Siriwardene, Ashan Priyanjan, Nuwan Pradeep, Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Sachitra Senanayake, Seekuge Prasanna, Sachith Pathirana.

Pakistan (from): Azhar Ali (Captain), Sarfraz Ahmed (V.Captain), Mohammed Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Azar Shafiq, Imad Wasim, Shoib Malik, Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali, Barba Azam, Bilal Asif, Eshan Adil, Mohammed Irfan.

The Selection Committee met on 5 June at P. Sara to decide on the composition of the team. SSC’s Jeffrey Vandersay and Badureliya’s Kasun Rajitha are the only new faces in the squad.
Board President’s XI members are: Kaushal Silva, Dimuth Karunaratne, Upul Tharanga, Jehan Mubarak, Dinesh Chandimal (Captain), Milinda Siriwardene, Niroshan Dickwella, Vishwa Fernando, Nisala Tharaka, Kasun Rajitha, Jeffrey Vandersay, Dhananjaya de Silva, Malinda Pushpakumara, Binura Fernando