West Indies captain leads from the front

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite stood in the middle all day as he faced two new balls and ended the first day of the Test match against Sri Lanka unbeaten on 99 runs.

Brathwaite lost the toss in the morning but still got what he wanted, which was to bat at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium to start the second Test match.

As others fell at the next end, Brathwaite provided the stability for the batting order which at one stage was 15/2 in less than 30 minutes of play.

The West Indies saw out the first day on 287/7, with Sri Lanka picking up wickets at critical points of the game.

Brathwaite was involved in all the partnerships yesterday, including a 71-run stand with Kyle Mayers, who scored 49 runs off 61 balls and moved the West Indies from 15/2 to 89 for the third wicket.

Brathwaite shared in a short partnership with Jermaine Blackwood, before he had a 51-run partnership with Jason Holder who scored 30 runs off 34 balls and took the West Indies to 171 for the fifth wicket.

The eight wicket, unbroken, 65-run partnership with Rahkeem Cornwall who is unbeaten on 43 runs off 54 balls saw them to stumps.

Brathwaite has kept out the Sri Lankan bowlers and faced 239 balls for his 99 runs.

During the first day, Brathwaite also brought up his 4000-run milestone in Test cricket with a single late in the day, which moved him to 98.

With the way wickets were falling during the day, at one point Sri Lanka looked as though they were going to bowl out the West Indies. Suranga Lakmal opened with a 10-over spell which saw him taking two wickets before anyone runs were scored.

Lakmal finished the day with 71/3 as the West Indies fought back each time a wicket fell, and now look assured of reaching at least 300 runs.

The second day of the Test match begins today at 10 a.m. (CG)