شخصية اليوم أحدث الأخبار

Holder takes five wickets, putting the West Indies in charge of the match against Sri Lanka

Princess Tarfa

Former captain Jason Holder took five wickets to help the West Indies bowl out Sri Lanka for 169 on the first day of the two-match series in Antigua on Sunday. The all-rounder has been lacking motivation and excitement after being relieved of the captaincy after five and a half years in the job quickly vanished on the way to impressive figures of five for 27 off 17.4 overs.

With new skipper Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell sharing opening batting duties, the pair managed a potentially tough 40 minutes to the end of the play and will resume at 13 without loss on the second morning. Holder's eighth five-wicket innings haul in Test cricket included the crucial scalp of Lahiru Thirimanne during the day's final session, as the tourists' last five wickets fell for just 19 runs.

Thirimanne had put up a brave battle against all West Indian bowlers for five hours before dragging a delivery onto his stumps and departing for 70 runs off 180 deliveries.

Holder, who took his first wicket on the stroke of lunch when former captain Dinesh Chandimal was caught behind. He returned in the final session to end Sri Lanka's only significant resistance when wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella was caught at first slip for 32, ending a sixth-wicket partnership of 58 with Thirimanne.

After going wicketless and unlucky in the morning session after being put in to bat by Sri Lanka, Kemar Roach took two wickets in the afternoon session and added a third during the post-tea collapse. After 12 years in the international game, the 32-year-final old's review of three for 47 from 16 overs took his tally of Test wickets to 208.

Roach reaped the benefits after Jermaine Blackwood missed a chance at a backward point off Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne. Roach bowled Dhananjaya de Silva and then had debutant Pathum Nissanka superbly taken by a diving Holder at second slip to leave the visitors at 92 for five.

After putting Sri Lanka in the beginning, Brathwaite's decision to introduce Rahkeem Cornwall's off-spin after just seven overs paid off immediately when Karunaratne was caught at forwarding short-leg for 12. Brathwaite's pace and precision then accounted for Oshada Fernando, who had been called through for a sharp single but had been caught short of his ground by the skipper's direct hit at the striker's end running in from cover.

Darren Bravo was left out of the West Indies final XI despite scoring a match-winning century to end the three-match one-day international series a week earlier.

Visual Archive