West Indies crumble on first day

Sri Lankan Board President's XI 152 for 1 (Atapattu 78*, Tharanga 41, Sangakkara 25*) lead West Indies 110 (Lokuarachchi 3-15, Herath 3-23) by 42 runs
Scorecard

Spinners Rangana Herath and Kaushal Lokuarachchi grabbed three wickets each to bowl out West Indies for a paltry 110 at the Nondescripts ground in Colombo on Saturday. The Sri Lankan Board President's XI dismissed the touring side within 51 overs after sending them into bat and were 151 for 1 in reply at the close of the first day of the two-day practice match. Sri Lanka's captain, Marvan Atapattu, was unbeaten on 78, alongside the lefthander Kumar Sangakkara, who had made 25.

Atapattu sent the weakened tourists' side into bat and, in the absence of Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan - missing because of a sponsorship row - they crumbled. Herath grabbed 3 for 23 and Lokuarachchi 3 for 15, while Omari Banks was the topscorer with just 18, one of only five batsmen to reach double figures.

Atapattu added to their woes as he reached his half-century off 85 balls. The Sri Lankans fielded six regular players in a bid to give them match practice as they resumed international cricket after three months.

The first Test will be held at the Sinhalese sports club from July 13 while the second match will be played in the hill resort of Kandy from July 21.