Sri Lanka lose their way on slow pitch

48.4 overs Sri Lanka 201 (Kaluwitharana 54, Dillon 3-39) v West Indies

West Indies dismissed Sri Lanka for a below-par 201 in 48.4 overs in the first game of a three-match series on a slow Kensington Oval pitch. It was a stop-start innings dominated by Romesh Kaluwitharana at the top of the order, who scored 54 from 75 balls, and later by Kumar Dharmasena, who chipped in with 40 valuable runs in the lower order.

West Indies clasped a clear advantage after Sri Lanka had slipped to 112 for 5 after the loss of Kaluwitharana, but Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dharmasena rescued the innings with a consolidating 59 partnership for the sixth wicket. However, West Indies finished the innings strongly, running through the Sri Lanka tail in the final overs.

Whether the total will be enough to test a West Indies batting line-up brimming with confidence after three straight wins against Australia is unlikely, but Sri Lanka will take confidence from the low-scoring recent history at the venue, and the prospect of assistance for their key matchwinner, Muttiah Muralitharan.

Sri Lanka were forced onto the back foot in first over after a poor decision from Billy Doctrove. Sanath Jayasuriya greeted Doctrove's raised finger with a resigned smile, knowing that Mervyn Dillon's third ball had missed the edge by a fair distance (0 for 1).

But Marvan Atapattu, who had top scored with 99 against a Shell Academy XI in Sri Lanka's only practice match, and Kaluwitharana played positively. They were made to hop around on a pitch offering some early life - especially Kaluwitharana who was hit on the helmet by Corey Collymore and later floored by a blow to his midriff - but also found the boundary as 46 runs were added in 54 balls.

Brian Lara conjured up a breakthrough with a surprise bowling change, calling on Marlon Samuels' offbreaks in the 10th over. A similar move had worked against the Australians, when Samuels had dismissed Adam Gilchrist after opening the bowling in Grenada, and it foxed Atapattu too, who clipped back a simple return catch. He had scored 22 from 36 balls (46 for 2).

Lara kept ringing the changes as he replaced Dillon with Collymore. Were it not for the fumbling hands of Ricardo Powell at second slip, Kumar Sangakkara would have gone third ball. He continued to ride his luck, frequently playing and missing. But he also showed his class, clipping one sweet boundary through the legside and another majestic cover drive. At the other end Kaluwitharana chipped in with some flamboyant strokes.

Sangakkara's luck ran out in the 21st over as David Bernard, the fifth bowler used, claimed his first wicket in one-day cricket. Sangakkara was caught on the point boundary by Ramnaresh Sarwan after a wild swing to one of Bernard's straighter deliveries - he bowled five wides in his first two-over spell (83 for 3).

With Sri Lanka's shaky middle order exposed, Lara swung back onto the offensive. Dillon was hauled back into the attack and afforded two slips. An unconvincing Mahela Jayawardene survived Dillon's burst, but did not out last long, succumbing to the innocuous medium pace of Wavell Hinds as he top-edged a pull (106 for 4).

West Indies stole a clear initiative soon afterwards with the run-out of Kaluwitharana, who reached his 23rd one-day fifty before becoming bogged down after the departure of Sangakkara. Slipping on the turn as he pushed for a second run, Kaluwitharana could not beat Hinds's throw from the boundary despite a desperate dive (112 for 5).

Dharmasena and Dilshan (27) started their repair job slowly, nudging singles and twos. They were fortunate that West Indies' throwing radars were not working properly, the fielders missing the stumps on half a dozen occasions. Gradually they started to tick along more easily and Sri Lanka were set for a competitive total on 171 for 5.

But they lost their way after Vasbert Drakes flattened Dilshan's stumps, as the last five wickets folded for 30 runs, leaving the full house at the Kensington Oval with high hopes of another West Indies victory.

West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Brian Lara (capt), 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Ricardo Powell, 7 Ridley Jacobs, 8 David Bernard, 9 Vasbert Drakes, 10 Mervyn Dillon, 11 Corey Collymore

Sri Lanka 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), 3 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Kumar Dharmasena, 8 Prabath Nissanka, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Dharshana Gamage, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan