by Wisden staff
Wednesday, November 21, 2001

Close Sri Lanka 193 for 5 (Tillekeratne 60*, Samaraweera 4*)
Scorecard

A 116-run partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Hashan Tillekeratne did much to restore Sri Lankan fortunes on a rain-affected first day. But the main focus was on West Indian fast bowler Colin Stuart who was banned from bowling in the rest of this innings after sending down two beamers in a bizarre opening to the day.

Stuart was brought on after Mervyn Dillon had to leave the field with stomach pains halfway through the third over of the morning. But his two head-high deliveries to Sanath Jayasuriya forced Carl Hooper to withdraw him, after much discussion with the umpires. Chris Gayle finally completed the 14-minute over.

The day itself was curtailed by rain, with no overs possible in the final session. Jayawardene eventually fell 12 runs short of his hundred, giving Dinanath Ramnarine a simple return catch off a leading edge. He had batted beautifully and his century looked a certainty, but he became bogged down shortly before tea and the frustration contributed to his downfall.

Jayawardene's dismissal provided a much-needed spur to Tillekeratne who cast aside his watchfulness and batted with fluency. He lofted Ramnarine high over midwicket for six and then cut him away for four to bring up his fifty.

It was hard work for the makeshift West Indies' attack, as the part-time offspin of Marlon Samuels was smashed over the fence and Pedro Collins looked less than incisive. But there was some good news for Carl Hooper when Mervyn Dillon returned to the field shortly before tea.

Earlier the Sri Lankans had failed to take advantage of the severely depleted West Indian attack. Sanath Jayasuriya fell for 16, edging a lifter from Pedro Collins straight to Gayle at third slip (27 for 2). Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene steadied the ship somewhat with a painstaking 22-run partnership, before Sangakkara had a characteristic rush of blood to the head and tried cutting Dinanath Ramnarine, only find himself clean bowled for 15.

Russel Arnold came and went in the space of four balls, perishing in exactly the same fashion as Sangakkara. Marvan Atapattu fell to the fifth ball of the day, trapped plumb in front by Dillon for a duck

Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat, hoping for a change of luck - they have lost their last three Tests at Kandy.

Teams
Sri Lanka 1 Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), 2 Marvan Atapattu, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Russel Arnold, 6 Hashan Tillekeratne, 7 Thilan Samaraweera, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Nuwan Zoysa, 10 Niroshan Bandaratillake, 11 Muttiah Muraliatharan.

West Indies 1 Daren Ganga, 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara, 5 Carl Hooper (capt), 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Mervyn Dillon, 9 Colin Stuart, 10 Dinanath Ramnarine, 11 Pedro Collins.

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