GALLE, Sri Lanka (CMC):

Interim West Indies head coach, Eldine Baptiste, praised his bowlers for their commitment on a slow track, but said dropped catches had put a blemish on the performance, on the opening day of the first Test yesterday.

Asked to field first, the Caribbean side's bowlers toiled with little success as Sri Lanka piled up 250 for two, behind opener Dimuth Karunaratne's unbeaten 135, and Dinesh Chandimal's 72 not out.

"They (bowlers) put the hard work in and bowled brilliantly in the circumstances. It's just that they (fielders) dropped a few catches which we would have liked to have caught and that would have made a big difference," Baptiste told a post-match media conference.

Unbroken 149

"The score could have been 220 for five and instead it is 250 for two. So we've just got to get the ball in the same areas and hopefully make sure we take our catches."

Chandimal was handed a life on 11 by Jerome Taylor at mid-on off leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo just before tea, while earlier, Lahiru Thirimanne (16) was dropped on six by Darren Bravo at slip off Taylor, mid-way through the second session.

The Chandimal miss proved costly as he went on to add an unbroken 149 for the second wicket with Karunaratne, to give the hosts the advantage in the contest at the Galle International Stadium.