(MENAFN- NewsBytes) Sri Lanka have beaten West Indies in the first Test at the Galle International Stadium. The visitors, who were chasing 348, perished on 160 despite a valiant effort from Nkrumah Bonner and Joshua Da Silva. Spinners Lasith Embuldeniya and Ramesh Mendis starred for the Lankans with astonishing spells. Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne shone in both innings, scoring 147 and 83. Here are the key stats.
Match How did the match pan out?
SL compiled 386 after electing to bat first. Karunaratne did the bulk of scoring for SL. Pathum Nissanka and Dhananjaya de Silva were also among runs. Roston Chase registered a five-for. The visitors were bundled out for 230 before SL declared (191/4). WI faltered in the run-chase, however, Bonner and Da Silva rescued them. The latter got dismissed, while Bonner ran out of partners.
Knock Karunaratne smashed his 13th Test ton
Karunaratne stole the show with a match-defining knock on Day 1. The Lankan opener slammed his 13th century in Test cricket. Karunaratne batted the entire day in his first international match in nearly seven months. He smashed 147 off 300 balls (15 fours). The 33-year-old smashed another 50+ score in the second innings (83 off 104 balls).
Information Karunaratne has been on a roll
Karunaratne has scored three tons in his last three Test matches. He has crossed the 50-run mark in his past six innings (83, 147, 66, 118, 244, and 75). Earlier this year, Karunaratne registered his career-best Test score (244 vs Bangladesh).
Runs Third-highest run-scorer of 2021 (Tests)
Karunaratne has now become the third-highest run-scorer in Test cricket this year. He has scored 854 runs from six Tests at an incredible average of 77.63. The tally includes 4 hundreds and 3 half-centuries. Karunaratne overtook Rishabh Pant, who owns 706 runs. The Sri Lankan captain is only behind Joe Root (1,455) and Rohit Sharma (906) in terms of runs.
Chase Third five-wicket haul for Chase
Off-spinner Roston Chase took a five-wicket haul as Sri Lanka managed 386 in the first innings. It was his third five-for in Test cricket. Chase now has 71 wickets from 41 Tests with the best match figures of 8/60. The off-spinner was wicket-less in the second innings. He gave away 28 runs in six overs (one maiden).
Turning point WI staged a comeback after getting reduced to 18/6
West Indies were reduced to 18/6 while chasing. Thereafter, Nkrumah Bonner and Joshua Da Silva shared a 100-run stand. Da Silva registered his second half-century. The duo took West Indies past 100. Da Silva was finally dismissed in the 57th over (118/7). He scored 54 off 129 balls (5 fours). However, Bonner went on to reach his third fifty and remained unbeaten (68*).
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