WI v SL, 1st Test, Day 1, Review: Windies battling hard to put up a good first innings total

It will be important for West Indies to push the first innings total further on day-2 to be able to make an impact in the game.

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Shane Dowrich
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Shane Dowrich. (Photo Source: Twitter)

It was almost six months before West Indies played a Test match before this one against Sri Lanka. After playing New Zealand in December last year, the West Indies were only seen playing limited-overs cricket. However, even after playing Test cricket after some time, they didn’t appear to be as rusty. In the First Test against the island nation, the Windies are toiling hard to put a decent first innings total.

In the First Test at the Queen’s Park Oval at Trinidad, both the sides did not have an ideal day. Sri Lanka was sloppy on the field and dropped a couple of chances. West Indies revived well at the end of the day after half of their side was back in the hut for just 147. They managed to get to 246 for the loss of 6 wickets at stumps, day 1.

None of the Windies batsmen able to convert the starts

West Indies skipper Jason Holder decided that his team will bat first after winning the toss. Also, opener Devon Smith made a comeback into the side after nearly 3 years. The big news for Sri Lanka was that Angelo Mathews was fit and picked in the XI. However, he didn’t bowl a single over in the day.

After electing to bat first, the Windies openers K Brathwaite and Devon Smith failed to make an impact. Both these were quick to walk back to the pavilion. Brathwaite poked at a delivery from Suranga Lakmal and the keeper did the rest. He scored 3 runs before getting out. Smith’s return to international cricket was a calamity too. He was absolutely careless about his running and was run out on 7.

After these two early wickets, Kieran Powell and Shai Hope tried to resurrect the batting. These two got off to some good starts and were looking good to score big. However, a peach of a delivery from Lahiru Kumara got Powell bowled on 38. Hope too tried to play a false shot trying to tuck a delivery away on the leg side and ended up giving an easy catch to the keeper as he fell short of his half-century by 6 runs.

All that batsmen after this duo got off to good starts as well. However, none of them was able to convert their starts into something substantial. Furthermore, all the Windies batsmen got out either in the 30s or the 40s which would have been really disappointing for them.

Dropped catches, Wickets off no-balls – A day to forget for Sri Lanka

Roston Chase scored 38 and looked to be in decent touch. However, he got out while trying to cut a delivery from Rangana Herath and ended up getting an outside edge. Mathews took a sharp catch at the slips to send him back to the hut. After that, Jason Holder built a 90-run partnership along with Shane Dowrich. He was living dangerously and didn’t bother taking his chances. He scored 40 runs and got out trying a play a lazy shot where he toe-ended a ball from Lahiru Kumara. The keeper was convinced and Sri Lanka got their DRS call right putting Windies in a spot of bother again.

At the end of the day, Shane Dowrich remained not out on 46. The pitch is expected to be the best for batting on the first two days. West Indies will be looking to exploit the opportunity to bat long on day-2. For this to happen, Dowrich will have to play a crucial role. He is assisted by Devendra Bishoo at the other end who has played 32 dots thus far without scoring a run.

Sri Lankan bowlers will regret the chances not being taken. About two or three catches were spilt on day-1. Lahiru Kumara managed to get a wicket off a no-ball. However, Kumara was the pick of the bowlers on the first day and has picked 3 wickets. Furthermore, Herath and Lakmal picked one wicket each.

Brief Scores:

Windies, 1st innings: 246/6 in 84 overs (S Dowrich 46*; L Kumara 3/57)

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