| Series Name: | West Indian cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2010–11 |
| Team1 Image: | Flag of Sri Lanka.svg |
| Team1 Name: | Sri Lanka |
| Team2 Image: | WestIndiesCricketFlagPre1999.svg |
| Team2 Name: | West Indies |
| From Date: | 10 November 2010 |
| To Date: | 21 December 2010 |
| Team1 Captain: | Darren Sammy |
| Team2 Captain: | Kumar Sangakkara |
| No Of Tests: | 3 |
| Team2 Tests Won: | 0 |
| Team1 Tests Won: | 0 |
| Team2 Tests Most Runs: | Chris Gayle (366) |
| Team1 Tests Most Runs: | Kumar Sangakkara (228) |
| Team2 Tests Most Wickets: | Kemar Roach (10) |
| Team1 Tests Most Wickets: | Ajantha Mendis (11) |
| Player Of Test Series: | Kemar Roach (WIN) |
| No Of Odis: | 3 |
| Team1 Odis Won: | 2 |
| Team2 Odis Won: | 0 |
| Team2 Odis Most Runs: | Ramnaresh Sarwan (147) |
| Team1 Odis Most Runs: | Upul Tharanga (140) |
| Team2 Odis Most Wickets: | Sulieman Benn (4) |
| Team1 Odis Most Wickets: | Lasith Malinga (6) |
| Player Of Odi Series: | Upul Tharanga (SL) |
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.[1] 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.[2]
British Eurosport bagged the rights to show the matches in the United Kingdom.[3]
| Test squads | ODI squads | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [4] | [5] | [6] | ||
| 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) | 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.
Alan G. Hurst of Australia served as the match referee for the Test series.
Shane Shillingford was reported for a suspected illegal bowling action during the Test.[7] 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.
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.[8]
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).[9] 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13]
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.[14] 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.[15]
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.[16] 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.[17] 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.
Five matches were originally scheduled for 9, 11, 15, 17, 19 December 2010. The Twenty20 match was scheduled for 21 December.
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