Dhananjaya de Si;va’s 120 off 168 deliveries formed the centrepiece of Sri Lanka’s fighting batting efforts on day one of the Test series against West Indies. Sri Lanka lost three wickets in the first hour, Kemar Roach breaking through in the first over of the game, before Alzarri Joseph struck twice in three balls in the 10th over.

But on a pitch with some assistance for the quicks, Sri Lanka fought back, first through a counter-punching half-century to Dinesh Chandima, before de Silva imposed himself on the match, scoring briskly through the middle and evening sessions.

The innings was largely built upon three partnerships that de Silva was part of: a 68-run stand with Chandimal, a 99-run stand with Snal Dinusha, and a 64-run seventh-wicket stand with Milan Rathnayaka.

A total of 308, however, was only a competitive first-innings total, rather than a commanding one. West Indies’ seamers were menacing in patches throughout the day, particularly Roach, Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph, who tested the batters whenever they were operating. However, it was the medium pace of Justin Greaves that wreaked the most damage in the end. He dismissed de Silva midway through the final session and would claim two further tail-end wickets to finish with figures of 3 for 39. Roach, Alzarri, and Shamar all claimed two wickets apiece.

Having bowled Sri Lanka out for 308, West Indies had one over to bat before stumps, and survived it without loss. Their over rate through the day had been exceedingly slow, however. Only 72.5 overs were bowled on day one, though all six-and-a-half hours of play were utilised.

De Silva had been confident from the outset. In the morning session he had defended well, and had played some assured straight drives to get himself moving, as Sri Lanka strove to recover from 42 for 3. Chandimal was the primary aggressor in his first partnership, as he found boundaries through cover and point in particular. Chandimal hit 41 of the 68 runs they made together and, although not fluent in this particular innings, had kept Sri Lanka ticking through a difficult period. He appeared to be finding his touch as he crossed 50, but was bowled by an excellent Shamar yorker soon after.

Kusal Mendis, reaching for a full wide one, was caught at second slip later in that same Shamar over. This was the second occasion Sri Lanka lost two in an over, with Alzarri having earlier dismissed Nishan Madushka and Kamindu Mendis in the 10th over of the day.

De Silva got Sri Lanka out of that immediate danger with some sparkling shots square of the wicket, spanking one from Alzarri through point before pulling the same bowler imperiously through square leg two balls later. He had his outside edge beaten frequently, but also found singles and twos into the outfield to keep himself moving. Disdainful pulls would become a hallmark of this innings, though he also scored heavily through cover and deep third. Dinusha, who played a restrained innings, also dug deep to lift Sri Lanka out of trouble. He scored heavily through the backward point region, pouncing on the short wide deliveries whenever they were offered up. He hit 43 off 75.

Soon after tea, de Silva moved smoothly to a 13th Test hundred, off the 150th ball he faced, reaching the milestone with a sumptuous flick through midwicket. In the end, a tame length delivery from Greaves claimed his wicket, as de Silva gave a catch off the leading edge to point as he attempted to clip through midwicket. Sri Lanka were 273 for 7 at that point, and a little lower-order hitting propelled them past 300, Rathnayake scoring 27.

The first hour of the day, however, had belonged to West Indies. Pathum Nissanka was caught off Roach at short leg, when he failed to keep a leg-side flick down. Alzarri then nailed Nishan Madushka in front with a ball that nipped off the surface, and had Kamindu Mendis caught at first slip with a delivery in the channel outside off. Sri Lanka were 42 for 3 after that first double strike. Shamar would also take two wickets in an over, soon after lunch.

Scores:
West Indies 0 for 0 in 1 over  (John Campbell 0*, Brandon King 0*) trail Sri Lanka 308 in 71..5 overs (Dhananjaya de Silva  120, Dinesh Chandimal 54, Sonal Dinusha 43; Kemar Roach 2-32, Alzarri Joseph 2-60, Shamar Joseph 2-79, Justin Greaves 3-39) by 308 runs

[Cricinfo]

The Oakland leg of the league stage of MLC 2026 started with a game where batters on either side struggled, and seamer Amshi de Silva put on a show to run through San Francisco Unicorns and give Texas Super Kings their second win to end a mini losing streak of two matches.

There were two individual scores in the 40s, both for Super Kings, and none of the Unicorns batters crossed 28. But 18 wickets fell as exactly 200 runs were scored, with de Silva’s 4 for 28 the best individual return and four other quick bowlers picked up two wickets apiece.

Asked to bat first, Super Kings got to what looked like a modest total of 161 for 8. They started strongly, with Faf du Plessis and Salteja Mukkamalla putting on 72 in just under eight overs. That set the platform Super Kings needed, but they were 96 for 5 in the 13th over.

Enter Donovan Ferreira, and the complexion of the innings and, in hindsight, the game changed.

Ferreira put on 40 in 27 balls with Wiaan Mulder, who contributed four runs in eight balls in the sixth-wicket partnership while Ferreira scored 34 in 19. There was no significant partnership after that, but Ferreira’s 45 in 28 balls – he hit four of the ten sixes in the innings – carried Super Kings to a total that eventually proved much more than enough.

There was almost no resistance from the Unicorns batters. The best partnership was the one for the second wicket between Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Matt Short, worth just 22 in 12 balls. De Silva had already sent back Finn Allen before that, in the third over, and then got two in the fifth of the innings, those of Pretorius and Connor Esterhuizen. Unicorns did have the runs, ending the powerplay with 53, but had lost three wickets in that time. In comparison, Super Kings had been 48 for no loss.

And it only got worse for Unicorns after the powerplay, with Abhimanyu Lamba taking charge and leaving the scorecard reading 115 for 8 after 15 overs.

There was no chance of a comeback from there, and though Brody Couch, who had earlier returned 2 for 42, put on stands of 25 in 14 balls and 20 in 13 balls with Hammad Azam and Peter Siddle respectively, it was all over when Adam Milne came back to finish the innings off.

The result left Super Kings at No. 2 on the table with two wins from four games, behind Los Angeles Knight Riders, who have two wins in two games. Unicorns, meanwhile, are one off the bottom in fifth place with one win in three games.

Scores:

Texas Super Kings 161 for 8 in 20 overs (Donovan Ferreira 45, Faf Du Plessis 40, Saiteja Mukkamalla 36; Ghulam Mudassar 2-30, Brody Couch 2-42, Peter Siddle 1-34, Hasan Khan 1-19, Matthew Short 1-19) beat San Francisco Unicorns 139 in 17.4 overs (Lhuan-dre Pretorius 17, Matthew Short 28, Hassan Khan 14, Hammad Azam 20, Brody Couch 22; Amshi De Silva 4-28, Abhimanyu Lamba 2-22, Adam Milne 2-29, Hardus Vijeon 1-24) by 22 runs

(Cricinfo)

Sri Lanka take on Scotland in Manchester at 18:30 local time (17:30 GMT) in the Women’s T20 World Cup. Scotland, with three losses in four matches, are out of the semi-final race. With England having already booked a spot in the semi-finals, Sri Lanka’s only hope is to beat Scotland by a big margin and then hope for a few other results to go their way.

Sri Lanka are coming off a confidence-boosting win against Ireland, powered by Chamari Athapaththu’s century, while Scotland lost to New Zealand despite a spirited performance. The teams have met three times in T20Is with Sri Lanka winning all three. In their last meeting, in the 2024 T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi, Athapaththu made a 63 ball 102.