Brian Lara nearly missed this tour with a hamstring injury, but he will be glad he travelled tonight after illuminating the first day of the series with a sparkling century.
The squat Trinidadian has enjoyed only lean pickings of late, especially when set alongside the continued excellence of Sachin Tendulkar and Andy Flower. It has been 11 months since he last scored a century - a score of 182 against Australia in Adelaide last December - and, somewhat fittingly, it took him 16 innings to reach his 16th Test century.
Lara announced his return to the international arena in emphatic style though, and his 117 not out took West Indies to 316 - 3 at the close. Writing off class players is a perilous occupation.
"I'm very happy now, but I am going to come back tomorrow and look for something really big," said Lara with ominous intent. "We need to get 500-600 runs and put Sri Lanka under pressure. We cannot allow them to get back into the game."
Lara's talent is beyond question whereas his commitment to the team is not, but his time on the sidelines appears to have rekindled his appetite. He gorged himself in Galle, and struck an early pyschological blow against Mutiah Muralitharan who finished with 1 for 104.
"Muralitharan is something special in world cricket," he said afterwards, but it was Lara who was special today. His innings was perfectly paced, aggressive yet measured, and he reached fifty in 71 balls before bringing up his century in 150.
He hit 12 boundaries in all, some of which were simply dazzling, including a trademark one-legged flick through mid-wicket of Chaminda Vaas, a dancing lofted drive off Sanath Jayasuriya and several vintage cover drives. He enjoyed his fair share of luck however, and was twice dropped by wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara, on 31 and 93.
Lara's innings overshadowed a commendable effort from the player many regard as his successor, Ramnaresh Sarwan, with whom he added 145 for the third wicket. The Guyanan played diligently and timed the ball well to score 88, before being bowled by Muralitharan, and his first Test century still eludes him.
Earlier Vaas had removed both openers, Daren Ganga for 47 and Chris Gayle for nine, before Lara and Sarwan took the game away from the hosts. Captain Carl Hooper remains with Lara on 34 not out, and will hope to capitalise further on this excellent start and bat Sri Lanka out of the game.