Sri Lanka roll out the old Galle welcome

In the decade gone by, Sri Lanka had set down a foolproof method of operation in Galle. They would bring the visiting teams south at the start of the tour, show them the ocean, feed them some seafood, lead them to the top of the fort, then hurl them brutally off it. It was the done thing in the Murali-Sanga-Mahela days. Sri Lanka had big, bruising wins at the venue, and the touring side spent the rest of the series trying to erase the deficit and the memory of a traumatic loss.

And for a long time, the toss also seemed hexed. The coin often fell for Sri Lanka at the venue. The captain never hesitated to put his side in. At the end of day one, their victims walked off the field two shades darker, doubled over in exhaustion, and at least one Sri Lanka batsmen positively strutted off it, a triple-figure score to his name. In the dressing room, Murali had been placed in a straightjacket. The pitch had begun to show slight signs of turn, and he had failed to contain his excitement.

It has been a little different in the past two years. South Africa and Pakistan have won matches in Galle. In the last game at the ground, India carved out a gigantic first innings lead, and that game was only won by Sri Lanka thanks to some inspiration from the left-arm spinner, Rangana Herath, and a healthy helping of luck.

On Wednesday, against West Indies, Sri Lanka's top order reclaimed a little of what had been lost from the golden Galle years. They rolled out the old welcome, replete with an unbeaten centurion, and a large top-order stand. It was an imperfect imitation, but this is a young team. They have not won a trophy in any format for more than a year. Imperfect, for now, is more than good enough.

Dimuth Karunaratne didn't quite capture the manic energy of Tillakaratne Dilshan's old Galle charges, but the legside flicks and checked drives were pleasant enough. He squirted Jerome Taylor through the slips for his first boundary, then creamed Shannon Gabriel down the ground for his next.

Karunaratne has had an odd home season. He knocked the Pakistan attack around, then was bloodied himself by India, who kept him to 67 runs from six innings. But by being unfathomably inconsistent, he is following in the steps of some of the greatest Sri Lanka batsmen. He has a very long way to go before he matches Aravinda de Silva or Sanath Jayasuriya, but feast or famine had been their chosen approach as well.

He said a few technical errors pointed out to him by new interim coach Jerome Jayaratne had lit his path back to form. "The new coach showed me few things to change and I made those changes. Not only me, most of the batsmen made a few changes. We did some very hard work during the last three weeks, simply because the next few series that are lined up are not easy at all. Most of those series are to be played overseas. So this is a series to make amendments."

His opening partner Kaushal Silva clung on dourly for 48 deliveries before edging one to slip. Even in their greatest years, one Sri Lanka opener would routinely soak up balls, as if preparing of a long, fruitful innings, then lamely get out for a low score. Silva carried this out almost too well.

Dinesh Chandimal was the man who made the innings spark at No. 4 - a position once held by de Silva before Mahela Jayawardene claimed that mantle. Chandimal has a more homespun style than either of those men, but possesses the same fearless outlook. He cracked Devendra Bishoo's legspin through the covers fourth ball, and spent much of his innings trying to force good balls into space using his bottom hand.

When Chandimal arrives at the crease, it feels like something interesting could happen, which was not the feeling Lahiru Thirimanne inspired today. It sometimes feels like the sedative qualities of Thirimanne's and Silva's cricket are being misused by humanity. Could their batting be used to pacify stampeding buffalo for example, or quell tropical cyclones?

In the evening, having sapped the West Indies' bowling of its venom and energy, Chandimal and Karunaratne played out a wicketless final session, in which Sri Lanka claimed the advantage. In yesteryear, the score might have crossed 320 by stumps, but this is the cheap imitation for now, remember? That they saw out the first ten overs of the second new ball is sufficient for the time being

The time may come when this team becomes a force of its own; independent of great teams and players from the past. Maybe in future decades we will be measuring new batsmen on the Karunaratne or Chandimal scale.

But for now, while Sri Lanka fans are still pining for the glories of years gone by, Sri Lanka's top order gave them a whiff of the past. On day one they reminded spectators what it would be like for Sri Lanka to be good at Test cricket again.