WI vs SL, 1st Test, Day 5, Review: Windies take a 1-0 lead in the series

Things went as per the script for Windies in the First Test. They defeated Sri Lanka quite comfortably to take a lead of 1-0 in the 3-match Test series. They dominated the visitors in all three departments of the game and deserved to be the winners.

The Windies side was quite clinical with their performances. Their bowlers were exceptional and batsmen rose up to the occasion. On the other hand, Sri Lanka will have to sort out quite a few things after this defeat. They were sloppy on the field. Bowlers really couldn’t capitalize on the good starts. Batsmen failed to build reliable partnerships.

Sri Lanka reeled up quickly on Day 5

On day 5, Sri Lanka carried on with an overnight score of 176/3. Kusal Mendis was not out on 94 at the end of day 4 and continued to bat alongside nightwatchman Lahiru Gamage. Kusal went on to get his century. However, the happiness was short-lived as he was dismissed by Shannon Gabriel when he was batting on 102. Gamage too was back in the pavilion soon as Devendra Bishoo trapped him in front of the stumps.

Dinesh Chandimal, who was retired hurt on day 4 came out to bat on the fifth day. However, he failed to create much of an impact and was dismissed on 27. Niroshan Dickwella was also dismissed just at the stroke of lunch on 19. The hosts only required three more wickets after lunch to win the game. Windies couldn’t have asked for a better session than this.

After lunch, all they took was 20 balls to wrap things up. Bishoo dismissed Rangana Herath for a duck while Roston Chase finished things off by picking 2 wickets in the same over to hand Windies over a memorable win. Sri Lanka was bowled out for just 226 runs and West Indies won the game by 226 runs. Chase was the star with the ball as he picked 4 wickets and just gave away 15 runs.

Brief Scores

WI, 1st Innings: 414/8 d in 154 overs (Shane Dowrich 125*, Shai Hope 44, Lahiru Kumara 4/95)

SL, 1st Innings: 185/10 in 55.4 overs (Dinesh Chandimal 44, Niroshan Dickwella 31, M Cummins 3/31)

WI, 2nd Innings: 223/7 in 72 overs (K Powell 88, Jason Holder 39, Lahiru Kumara 3/40)

SL, 1st Innings: 226/10 in 53.4 overs (K Mendis 102, Angelo Mathews 31, Roston Chase 4/15)

Windies won by 226 runs

Man of the match – Shane Dowrich

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