# West Indian cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2010–11

The West Indies cricket team is touring Sri Lanka from 10 November to 21 December 2010. The tour consists of one three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Tests. A three-day tour match between West Indies and Sri Lanka Cricket president's XI was also played at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground from 10 to 12 November.
When the 3rd match of the Test series was played at Pallekele in Kandy, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium became the 104th Test venue in the world. The stadium is also Sri Lanka's eight.
A five-match ODI series and a single Twenty20 match were originally scheduled to be played from 9–19 and 21 December respectively. Due to bad weather, the ODI series was changed to three matches in late January 2011 and the Twenty20 match cancelled.
British Eurosport bagged the rights to show the matches in the United Kingdom.

## Squads

| Test squads | Test squads | ODI squads | ODI squads |
| Sri Lanka | West Indies | Sri Lanka | West Indies |
| Kumar Sangakkara (c) | Darren Sammy (c) | Kumar Sangakkara (c) | Darren Sammy (c) |
| Mahela Jayawardene | Adrian Barath | Mahela Jayawardene | Adrian Barath |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | Sulieman Benn | Tillakaratne Dilshan | Carlton Baugh (wk) |
| Tharanga Paranavitana | Darren Bravo | Upul Tharanga | Sulieman Benn |
| Thilan Samaraweera | Chris Gayle | Thilan Samaraweera | Dwayne Bravo |
| Angelo Mathews | Kemar Roach | Angelo Mathews | Darren Bravo |
| Prasanna Jayawardene (wk) | Shane Shillingford | Chamara Kapugedera | Shivnarine Chanderpaul |
| Thilina Kandamby | Devon Thomas (wk) | Suraj Randiv | Kirk Edwards |
| Ajantha Mendis | Brendan Nash (vc) | Ajantha Mendis | Chris Gayle |
| Suraj Randiv | Carlton Baugh (wk) | Lasith Malinga | Nikita Miller |
| Rangana Herath | Dwayne Bravo | Rangana Herath | Kieron Pollard |
| Kaushal Silva | Shivnarine Chanderpaul | Nuwan Kulasekara | Ravi Rampaul |
| Dammika Prasad | Devon Smith | Thisara Perera | Kemar Roach |
| Thilan Thushara | Nelon Pascal | Dilhara Fernando | Andre Russell |
| Suranga Lakmal | Andre Russell | Chamara Silva | Devon Smith |
| | | Jeevan Mendis | |
‡ Sri Lanka named a 16-man squad for the first two one-day internationals on 4 December 2010.

## First-class matches
### Tour match – Sri Lanka Cricket president's XI v West Indians

* 10–12 November 2010 Scorecard
* Match drawn Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo Umpires: Rohitha Kottahachchi (Sri) and Prageeth Rambukwella (Sri)
* West Indians, who chose to bat
* Days 2 and 3 saw no play.

## Test Series

Alan G. Hurst of Australia served as the match referee for the Test series.

### 1st Test

* 15–19 November Scorecard
* Match drawn Galle International Stadium, Galle Umpires: Steve Davis (Aus) & Richard Kettleborough (Eng) Player of the match: Chris Gayle (WI)
* West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
* Chris Gayle scored his highest total in Test Match cricket with 333. Bad light stopped play after lunch on day 3. Sri Lanka follow on after being dismissed for 378 in 1st innings (follow on target was 381)
Shane Shillingford was reported for a suspected illegal bowling action during the Test. He had match figures of five for 202 in the Test. Shillingford was reported to the International Cricket Council (ICC) by the two on-field umpires, as well as TV umpire Asad Rauf and fourth umpire Tyron Wijewardene due to a straightening of the arm during his Doosra delivery.

### 2nd Test

* 23–27 November Scorecard
* Match drawn R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pak) and Richard Kettleborough (Eng) Player of the match: Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
* Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.
* Bad light stopped play on days 1 and 3. Rain caused the end of day 2, and prevented play on day 4.
The 2nd Test was held at the R. Premadasa stadium despite its undergoing extensive renovation. The Sri Lankan Cricket Board defended choosing Premadasa stadium saying that the decision to stage a game was to allow cricketers to acclimatise themselves to the ground ahead of the 2011 World Cup games.
Sri Lanka cricket selectors recalled Nuwan Kulasekara and uncapped Shaminda Eranga for the second Test and dropped fast bowlers Dammika Prasad and Thilan Thushara, who went wicketless in the Galle Test. Suranga Lakmal made his Test debut to become Sri Lanka's 114th Test player.
Day 1 only saw 37. 2 overs of cricket due to a damp outfield and gloomy conditions. Sri Lanka went to stumps at 84 for three with Kemar Roach taking the wickets of Sri Lankan openers, Tharanga Paranavitana (16) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (4). On Day 2 Kumar Sangakkara completed his 24th Test century with an unbeaten 135 to guide Sri Lanka to 294 for five, when rain forced again a premature end. On Day 3 despite Sangakkara's departure for 150 in the morning, Sri Lanka looked to step up the scoring and declared at 387 for 9 after the tail chipped in with some valuable runs. In reply West Indies closed the day on 165 for five wickets with hosts gaining some edge with late strikes. Darren Bravo top scored for the visitors with a classy 80 only to end his innings in the day's penultimate over. Rain prevented any play on Day 4. In the afternoon play of Day 5 Sri Lanka took the remaining five West Indies first-innings wickets in less than two hours. Rangana Herath topped Sri Lanka's bowling and finished on 3/76. Sri Lanka made a solid start in the evening session and declared at 57 for one wicket. Later Kummar Sanggakara said that he made the surprise declaration to try to get the psychological advantage over the visitors. The ploy worked for Sri Lanka, as they put pressure on the West Indies top order with ten overs of testing bowling. At the close West Indies were 12 for 2.

### 3rd Test

* 1–5 December Scorecard
* Match drawn Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pak) and Bruce Oxenford (Aus)
* Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field.
* Bad light and rain curtailed play on Days 1, 2, and 4 with rain also delaying play on Day 1. Rain prevented play on Day 3 and Day 5.
On the opening day, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium became the 104th Test venue in the world and Sri Lanka's eight. Nuwan Kulasekara, who played the 2nd Test was left out of the Sri Lankan side due to a side strain. He was replaced by medium pacer Dilhara Fernando.
The start of the match was delayed by a wet outfield and heavy rains. Bursts of rain just after lunch and bad light in the evening contributed to shorten Day 1 which only saw 40 overs of play. Suranga Lakmal trapped Chris Gayle Leg Before Wicket (LBW) for a duck with the day's first delivery to begin Test cricket at the new venue in dramatic fashion. By dismissing Gayle, he became the third bowler to take a wicket with the first ball bowled in a test match at a new venue, joining Kapil Dev of India and Imran Khan of Pakistan.
At close of play, half-centuries from inform Darren Bravo and Devon Smith helped the West Indies to reach 134 for 2 on Day 1. Only 41 overs of play were possible on Day 2 due to rain. West Indies were 244 for 5 at the close of play with Brendan Nash on 62 and Carlton Baugh yet to score. Rain prevented any play on Day 3 and only 20 overs were possible on Day 4. Rangana Herath struck three times in the morning of Day 4 to claim the wickets of Brendan Nash, Carlton Baugh and Darren Sammy. No play was possible on Day 5 due to rain. A draw was declared after the match was called off at 1:30 pm local time.

## ODI series

Five matches were originally scheduled for 9, 11, 15, 17, 19 December 2010. The Twenty20 match was scheduled for 21 December.

### 1st ODI

* 31 January Scorecard
| West Indies 245/5 (50 overs) | v | Sri Lanka |
| Adrian Barath 113 (129) Lasith Malinga 3/51 (10 overs) | | |
* No result Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo Umpires: Asoka de Silva (SL) and Bruce Oxenford (Aus)
* West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.

### 2nd ODI

* 3 February Scorecard
| West Indies 203 (50 overs) | v | Sri Lanka 199/2 (42.3 overs) |
| Dwayne Bravo 39 (55) Lasith Malinga 3/30 (10 overs) | | Upul Tharanga 101* (143) Ravi Rampaul 1/27 (7 overs) |
* Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets (D/L) Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SL) and Bruce Oxenford (Aus) Player of the match: Upul Tharanga (SL)
* Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field.
* Rain stopped play in the 15th over of the Sri Lanka innings, with their target revised to 197 from 47 overs.

### 3rd ODI

* 6 February Scorecard
| Sri Lanka 277/9 (50 overs) | v | West Indies 251 (49 overs) |
| Kumar Sangakkara 75 (105) Sulieman Benn 4/38 (10 overs) | | Darren Bravo 79 (91) Ajantha Mendis 4/46 (10 overs) |
* Sri Lanka won by 26 runs Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo Umpires: Asoka de Silva (SL) and Bruce Oxenford (Aus) Player of the match: Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
* West Indies won the toss and elected to field.

## Media coverage
### Television

* British Eurosport: UK
* Ten Sports : Middle-East, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka