SL VS WI - 1st Test, West Indies tour of Sri Lanka, 2021

If you're a visiting team in India/Sri Lanka/Bangladesh, confused how to play spin bowling? Worry not, the best way to bat in these conditions is to not overthink about spin. Quite ironically, all you need to do is to watch out for the ball that doesn't spin. Jason Holder surely knows the length and breadth of that statement. He got a reality check last evening and in fairness, most batters wouldn't disagree either. On the bowling front, spinners who can bowl consistent line and lengths and have the knack of setting up batters are highly likely to succeed in these conditions. If there's anything that can be taken out from this game for both sides, that would be it. All said and done, West Indies have very little breathing space as they aim to spin a comeback in the next Test starting on Monday (29 November). Some crucial WTC points at stake afterall. Hope you enjoyed our coverage and do remember to join us for the second Test. See you soon!!

Dimuth Karunaratne | Sri Lanka skipper and Player of the Match: It's a great Test for me. I'm playing after a long time and I didn't even play any club cricket recently. I think youngsters are gaining experience from the experienced guys and we have guys like Mathews and Chandimal and spinners did a good job. The fast bowlers didn't get many overs but they did the job with the ball. The last couple of months there were heavy rains and we weren't sure how the wicket was gonna behave and that's why we picked two pacers. We will see how the conditions are for the next one before thinking about team selections. We need to carry on the good work and I have some targets to achieve and I'm glad that we are playing well as a unit.

Kraigg Brathwaite | West Indies skipper: Always believe first innings score was important and we fell short there. Must commend the bowlers, asked for some aggression and they showed it. I thought they were decent and we really let ourselves down with the bat in the first innings. We need to have more clarity with the bat as showed by Joshua and Bonner today morning. If you gotta defend, gotta defend very confidently.

Taha Haidery: Nkrumah Bonner has shown immense fight and courage. There have been numerous innings like these in Test history, not enough for a win or a draw but you got to appreciate these innings for fighting hard till the end.

13:45 local: Heading into day 5, West Indies' best bet for a draw was for some wet weather, but the rains only arrived 10 minutes after the conclusion of the game. That said, the 100-run partnership between Joshua Da Silva and Bonner deserves a lot of credit as the visitors looked set to be rolled out for under 50 at one stage. After the former fell towards the end of the first session, it was just a matter of one delivery and it turned out to be that way. Having lost the toss, West Indies showed commendable fight in patches, but lack of consistency cost them dear as they got out failing to negotiate straight balls, the age-old problem of most visiting teams in Asian conditions. Their spinners too could have been much better, but the lack of persistence to bowl in the right channels allowed Sri Lanka to run away with the game. Skipper Karunaratne had an excellent game and all his spinners responded brilliantly. Presentations coming right up, stay tuned...

Embuldeniya to Gabriel, out Caught by de Silva!! ALL OVER. Sri Lanka win by 187 runs and go 1-0 up in the series. It was getting really dark and the groundsmen were up and about to rush in with the covers, but alas! West Indies were hoping against hope. Gabriel was completely squared up on the back foot on this slider and ekes out a thick outside edge to first slip. Shakes his head in disappointment but there's nothing much he could have done there. Gabriel c de Silva b Embuldeniya 0(6)

Embuldeniya to Gabriel, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Embuldeniya to Gabriel, no run, full on off-stump, a huge stride forward and he jams it into the pitch

Embuldeniya to Gabriel, no run, opens the bat face and taps the full delivery into the off-side

Embuldeniya to Gabriel, no run, looped up on the stumps, Gabriel tucks his bat close to pad in defence

Embuldeniya to Gabriel, no run, gets across and defends the full delivery to the left of silly point

Embuldeniya to Gabriel, no run, forward and defended

Ramesh Mendis to Bonner, FOUR, last ball and Bonner has decided to go straight over the bowler's head. Dances down and creams it cleanly for a one-bounce four

Ramesh Mendis to Bonner, no run, sharply spinning offbreak, Bonner is slow to react but defends it down

Ramesh Mendis to Bonner, no run, flat length ball, Bonner stays back to block

Ramesh Mendis to Bonner, no run, Bonner is happy at the moment to defend

Ramesh Mendis to Bonner, no run, tossed up and Bonner strides to block

Ramesh Mendis to Bonner, no run, shortish offbreak, Bonner defends off the back foot

Shannon Gabriel, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Embuldeniya to Warrican, out Caught by Oshada Fernando!! Clear inside edge onto pad and that's why the Sri Lankans are so confident. They were celebrating even before the catch was taken at silly point. Warrican did his best to defend out there, but with that mini stride of his was always prone to the inside edge, this is tossed up on leg-stump, he presses forward but can only edge it to pad. Easy take and wonder why Warrican even went for the review. The bat hit pad first but then there was a clear deflection which is picked by UltraEdge. Warrican c Oshada Fernando b Embuldeniya 1(21)

Embuldeniya to Warrican, THATS OUT!! Caught!!