West Indies Test skipper Kraigg Brathwaite expressed disappointment after his side faced a defeat against Sri Lanka in the first Test of the two-match series.
Ramesh Mendis scalped five wickets as Sri Lanka defeated West Indies by 187 runs in the first Test of the two-match series here at the Galle International Stadium on Thursday.
"Always believe first innings score was important and we fell short there. Must commend the bowlers, asked for some aggression and they showed it. I thought they were decent and we really let ourselves down with the bat in the first innings," said Kraigg Brathwaite in a post-match presentation.
"We need to have more clarity with the bat as showed by Joshua and Bonner today morning. If you gotta defend, gotta defend very confidently," he added.
Resuming Day 5 on 52/6, overnight batters Joshua Da Silva and Nkrumah Bonner grinded it out and the duo added 66 more runs to the total, leading the visitors' fightback.
However, right on the cusp of lunch break, Lasith Embuldeniya got the better of Joshua Da Silva (54) and Windies was reduced to 118/7, still needing 230 to win.
After the lunch break, Praveen Jayawickrama got the better of Rahkeem Cornwall (13) and Sri Lanka was just two wickets away from victory.
The last two batters were dismissed cheaply and Sri Lanka registered a 187-run win to gain a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
( With inputs from ANI )
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