Dhananjaya De Silva found one of the most unusual ways to get out on day two of the first Test against West Indies in Galle. The Windies at stumps still trail by 273 runs in response to Sri Lanka’s 386. They were tottering at 113/6 with Kyle Mayers (22) and Jason Holder (1) unbeaten at the crease.

De Silva scored a fluent 61 off 95 balls and stitched an important partnership (111) with Dimuth Karunaratne (147). In the middle-order, Angelo Mathews and Oshada Fernando fell cheaply.

While facing Shanon Gabrial in the 95th over of the Sri Lankan innings, Dhananjaya De Silva in trying to prevent the ball from hitting the stumps got into a tangle in his attempt to save his wicket. However, in the motion of events, his bat dislodged the bails and he, unfortunately, was given out hit wicket.

Dhananjaya De Silva Scored 61 off 95 Balls

In the Sri Lanka v West Indies Test match, Dhananjaya de Silva was dismissed hit wicket. The Cricinfo description is one thing. The vision is even better. #SLvWI pic.twitter.com/PIFmBV3UUH

— Andrew Donnison (@Donno79) November 22, 2021

The ball from Gabriel took off from a length and kept rising as it came towards De Silva. He defended the ball but it bounced up took the gloves and in his act of preventing it from falling into his stumps, the right-hander’s bat hit the stumps.

His dismissal became the highlight of the day’s play as it was shown time and again in the slow-motion replay. It added to his pain as he had to leave the ground after being well set for a three-figure knock.

Meanwhile, leading the team from the front skipper Dimuth Karunaratne scored 147 off 300 balls. Apart from him opener Pathum Nissanka, De Silva scored fifties each. Wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Chandimal also added 45 runs to the team’s total.

Brief Scores

West Indies 113/6 (Kraigg Brathwaite 41; Ramesh Mendis 3-23, Praveen Jayawickrama 2-25) trail Sri Lanka 386 (Dimuth Karunaratne 147, Dhananjaya de Silva 61; Roston Chase 5-83, Jomel Warrican 3-87) by 273 runs

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