The Windies lost the first test to the Sri Lankans by 187 runs in Galle while only managing to score 230 and 160 in their two turns at the wicket.
The problem, according to Da Silva, was a technical one.
“We played a bit too far in front of us, especially in the first innings,” he said.
Da Silva was one of the bright spots in the second innings, making a well-played 54 off 125 balls as part of a 100-run partnership with Nkrumah Bonner, who remained not out at the end on 68.
Speaking after the match, Da Silva highlighted the difficulty of the conditions that the batsmen faced.
“Conditions were challenging. The pitch was turning a lot and the straighter ball was sliding on a bit so it was a difficult new-ball wicket but once the ball got a bit softer, it was a bit easier and we were able to get more on top of the bowlers,” he said.
The Trinidadian also gave some insight into what led to the big second innings partnership with Bonner that saw them take the score from 18-6 to 118-7.
“Well, when I got into the wicket with Bonner we had to rebuild. We had to think about how we were going to get out of a bit of a collapse so we just wanted to bat balls and both of us wanted to be at the wicket at the end of the day,” said Da Silva.
He also said that Sri Lanka didn’t do anything the Windies didn’t expect going into the game.
“They just played the cricket they know how to play. They used their spinners wisely and they batted well in the conditions they know how to bat very well. They used their home advantage,” he said.
Finally, Da Silva explained what needs to change for the West Indies to turn the series around.
“I just think the boys need to fight. We need to believe in ourselves. Nobody goes out there to fail. Everybody’s trying their best so just a bit of application and give yourself some time. You have a lot more time than you think,” he said.
The Windies will be looking to even the series in the second test which begins on Sunday at 11:30 pm local time.
At the close of play, Karunaratne, who was dropped on 14 by Jermaine Blackwood, is on 132 and De Silva on 56. Together they have so far put on 97 for the fourth wicket as Sri Lanka eye a massive first innings total on Monday.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Sri Lanka got off to a slow start but gradually built momentum throughout the day.
Karunaratne and Nissanka opened the batting and crept to 61-0 without loss at lunch. The 50 partnership came off 132 balls as the home side took a more cautious approach against the West Indies bowling led by Shannon Gabriel.
The partnership would endure until after the interval when Gabriel induced an edge from Nissanka, who was caught at slip by Rahkeem Cornwall for 56 and with the score at 139.
The West Indies would make further inroads fairly quickly afterwards when at 164-1, Roston Chase dismissed Oshado Fernando for three and then at 170-2 removed Angelo Matthews also for three.
However, that was the last success the West Indies bowlers would have for the remainder of play.
Gabriel has so far taken 1-56 from 12 overs while Chase has 2-42 from 17.
Sri Lanka began the day 46-2 from 21 overs and batted out the day to reach 328-8 from 119 overs, thanks to a brilliant unbeaten 153 from Dhananjaya de Silva.
The Sri Lankans now have a lead of 279 runs heading into the fifth and final day with two wickets still in hand.
Simmons says with 98 overs on the final day, a target close to 300 would be a tough one for his team.
“Ninety-eight overs tomorrow and 300 runs to get is a little bit difficult, especially on a wicket that’s going to be turning a lot,” he said after a frustrating day for his players.
So far in Sri Lanka’s second innings, West Indies spinners have accounted for 95 of the 119 overs bowled but Simmons doesn’t believe the quick bowlers were underutilized.
“Not really. I think it was a case where the spinners had to be used more. The fast bowlers were used accordingly. That’s the situation with both teams because Lakmal didn’t bowl much for them,” he said.
Simmons also praised Dhananjaya for playing well rather than blaming his troops for taking their foot off the gas.
“I think Dhananjaya batted really well and controlled the game. The wicket wasn’t ragging as much as we thought it would on the fourth day and he controlled the innings. It was a superb hundred. I think he played us out of the game,” Simmons said while offering some hope for his side with the pitch seemingly improving for batting as the match progresses.
“The pitch looks to be good still. I think in the first Test too, on the fifth day, the pitch was still good and this pitch seems to be as good as that so when it’s rolled tomorrow, we’ll see how it plays out.”
When asked about his message to the team after such a tough afternoon session, Simmons said sometimes you just have to credit the opposition for playing well.
“Just have to appreciate the fact that some days you meet people who just play well. We fought hard. The bowlers fought hard. We did all that we could do. On the field we were energetic all the time so it’s just that he batted well,” he said.
The West Indies coach concluded by saying that his team should emulate how Dhananjaya played when it is their turn to bat on day five.
“We just have to make sure we bat with an attitude of wanting to score all the time while attempting to bat out the day. That’s what you should be looking to do if you can’t win the game,” he said.
Day five begins at 11:15 pm local time.
Lasith Embuldeniya 5-35 and Man-of-the-Series Ramesh Mendis 5-66 bamboozled the West Indies, which had gone to lunch at 65-2 after facing 30.4 overs in the pre-lunch session. However, on the resumption, the Caribbean men lost their remaining eight wickets for 67 runs.
Nkrumah Bonner made 44 in another defiant performance.
After Kraigg Brathwaite was dismissed for six with the score on 15, Bonner and Jermaine Blackwood had mounted a partnership of 50 runs without much drama until Blackwood was out on the stroke of lunch for 36.
After lunch, Shai Hope (16) and Kemar Roach (13) were the only batsmen to make double figures as the Sri Lankan spinners cut through the lineup that offered little resistance as the West Indies were all out in 25.3 overs after the interval.
Resuming after lunch at 65-2, Hope and Bonner had taken the score to 92 when Mendis took three wickets - Hope, Roston Chase (0) and Kyle Mayers (0) - in the 44th over.
Holder (3) and Bonner followed shortly thereafter as the West Indies slipped further from 92-5 to 108-7 before Roach and Joshua da Silva, who remained unbeaten on four, attempted to mount another lower-order stand. However, when Roach became Embuldeniya's fourth victim at 128, it did not take long for Sri Lanka to wrap up the innings as Mendis claimed Veerasammy Permaul for one and Embuldeniya delivered the final rites when he dismissed Jomel Warrican for three.
Earlier, Sri Lanka had resumed from their overnight score of 328-8 with Man of the Match Dhananjaya de Silva on 153 and Embuldeniya on 25. The pair extended the ninth-wicket partnership of 107 to 126 before Embuldeniya was bowled by Jason Holder for 39.
De Silva remained not out on 155 as Sri Lanka declared at 345-9.
Holder finished with figures of 1-26. Veerasammy Permaul, who had eight wickets in the match, took 3-106 and Roston Chase 2-82.
Sri Lanka won the first Test by 187 runs.
On a day when only 34.4 overs were possible after play began after tea, Sri Lanka’s openers Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne shared in an opening stand 106.
Roston Chase broke the partnership in the 31st over when he had Karunaratne caught and bowled for 42. The Sri Lankan captain who had scores of 147 and 83 in the first Test, was early into a drive and ended up scooping the ball back to Chase, who dove low to his right to snag the catch, leaving Karunaratne eight runs short of a possible seventh score of fifty or more in Test cricket.
When bad light brought about the end of play Nissanka was on 61 and Oshada Fernando on two.
Chase ended with figures of 1-33 from 7.4 overs. Jomel Warrican 0-7 from six overs and Kemar Roach 0-12 from six overs were the most economical bowlers for the West Indies.
West Indies made two changes from the team that lost the first Test with Rahkeem Cornwall and Shannon Gabriel making way for Kemar Roach and Veerasammy Permaul.
Charith Asalanka makes his Test debut for Sri Lanka, who have a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.
At stumps, Sri Lanka are 328-8, a lead of 279 with two wickets still remaining. De Silva is 153 not out while Embuldeniya is on 25. Together they took Sri Lanka from 221-8 after the West Indies had threatened to restrict the home side to a lead below 200 runs, having trailed by 49 on first innings.
Resuming on 46-2, still three runs behind on first innings, Sri Lanka lost their third wicket at 73 when Veerasammy Permaul had Charith Asalanka caught at short leg for 19. Pathum Nissanka, 21, overnight, and de Silva stitched together a stand of 78 that was broken when the former got out lbw to Roston Chase for 66.
It was then 151-4.
At 157, Chase had Dinesh Chandimal out caught and bowled for two and the Sri Lankan lead was now only 108 with five wickets left.
However, de Silva forged a partnership of 51 with Ramesh Mendis, who made 25. Permaul then dismissed Suranga Lakmal for seven and the injured Angelo Matthews for 1 as Sri Lanka slipped to 221-8, a lead of 172.
It was the last success the West Indies would enjoy.
Permaul, who took 5-35 in the first innings, has so far taken 3-100 while Chase has figures of 2-82.
Scores in the match: Sri Lanka 204 and 328-8; West Indies 253.
Led by Captain Kraigg Brathwaite's patient 72 and propped up Kyle Mayers' crucial unbeaten 36, the West Indies scored 253 all out in reply to the home side’s first-innings score of 204.
The visitors had resumed from their overnight score of 69-1 with Brathwaite on 22 and Nkrumah Bonner on one. The pair extended their overnight partnership of seven runs to 75 when Ramesh Mendis claimed the first of his six wickets trapping Bonner lbw for 35.
The visitors went to lunch at 145-2, still 59 runs behind the hosts but they failed to build a commanding lead having lost wickets at regular intervals on the resumption after Brathwaite was bowled by Lasith Embuldeniya.
Shai Hope’s miserable Test form continued as he made only 10 while Roston Chase made 22 as the West Indies slipped from 166-3 to 197-7 as Mendis inflicted further damage on the West Indies batting order.
However, Mayers' late innings heroics proved instrumental in giving the West Indies a 49-run lead with his unbeaten knock that guided the West Indies to a small but important advantage.
Mendis’s six wickets cost 70 runs while Embuldeniya took 2-94 and Praveen Jayawickrama 2-59.
Trailing on first innings for the first time in the series, Sri Lanka got off to a bad start losing their leading run-scorer for the series, Dimuth Karunaratne, who was run out for six with only seven runs on the board. Oshado Fernando was also run out, for 14, as the home team crawled to 39-2 as close of play approached.
However, at stumps, Pathum Nissanka remained unbeaten on 21 with debutant Charith Asalanka at the other end on 4.
The West Indies trail 0-1 in the two-Test series.
Ramesh Mendis, who took 3-23 and Praveen Jayawickrama 2-25 were the main destroyers for the hosts as the West Indies collapsed from a solid start from Captain Kraigg Brathwaite, who made 41 and Jermaine Blackwood (20).
Brathwaite and Blackwood were hardly troubled by the Sri Lankan bowling as both took few risks while making effort to rotate the strike as best they could against tight-bowling and a close field. They ran singles and pierced the field for the occasional boundary steadily building a foundation for the chase.
However, the promising start would eventually unravel in the most disappointing fashion.
At 46-0, Blackwood was trapped lbw playing down the wrong line to a Lasith Embuldeniya delivery that was going on to hit leg stump. Nkrumah Bonner was out soon after as after having faced 11 balls, Jayawickrama had him caught at slip for one.
His dismissal triggered a slide that saw the West Indies lose four wickets for 53 runs. Among the wickets to fall was that of Brathwaite, who was caught at leg slip off Mendis for 41 as close of play approached.
The wickets of Shai Hope (10), Roston Chase (2) and night watchman Jomel Warrican followed in quick succession as the West Indies slipped further from 80-3 to 100-6.
Kyle Mayers 22* and Jason Holder 1* are the batsmen at the crease when play ended for the day.
Earlier, Chase took 5-83 to restrict Sri Lanka, resuming from their overnight total of 267-3 were bowled out for 386.
The hosts lost their last seven wickets for 119 runs after overnight batsman Dhananjaya de Silva, who resumed from his overnight score of 56, added five runs to his score before he was first out, hit wicket to the bowling of Shannon Gabriel for 61.
The big wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne, 132 overnight, followed soon after when he was caught at slip for 147.
Chase also removed Dinesh Chandimal for 45 as he and Jomel Warrican (3-87) ran through the remainder of the Sri Lanka batting.
Chasing a target of 348, the West Indies were bowled out for 160 after lunch mere minutes before the rains came.
Bonner remained unbeaten on 68 that was made over the course of 220 balls while da Silva made a solid 54.
The pair came together on Wednesday evening with the West Indies tottering on 18-6 and resumed from their overnight total of 52-6, hoping to bat through the final day and perhaps some match-saving rainfall.
Riding their luck, the pair put on exactly 100 runs in 286 balls for the seventh wicket when Lasith Embuldeniya got one to spin across the Trinidadian, who was caught at slip.
The West Indies went to lunch at 125-7 with Bonner on 42 and Rahkeem Cornwall, who replaced da Silva, on five. On the resumption, the pair took the score to 149, a partnership of 31, when Cornwall, inexplicably tried to go down the ground to a Praveen Jayawickrama delivery that was in the slot but only managed to hole out to long-off.
Bonner and Gabriel added 11 more runs before the latter lost his wicket to Embuldeniya without scoring, sealing the victory for the hosts.
Embuldeniya finished with figures of 5-46 while Ramesh Mendis, who did the damage on Wednesday returned 4-64.
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite praised Bonner and da Silva for their efforts but lamented that the remainder of the batsmen let the team down.
“I thought Joshua and Bonner, the way they fought from yesterday evening, was tremendous,” he said while indicating that there were some positives to take away from the match.
“I always believe first innings total is important, and then build pressure. (The) Sri Lanka skipper played well. It was important for us to get close to their score.”
I thought Joshua and Bonner, the way they fought from yesterday evening, was tremendous. I always believe first innings total is important, and then build pressure. Sri Lanka skipper played well. Gabriel getting two wickets, Roston getting five, we were decent, they batted well but our batting let us down."
After rain delayed the start of the fourth day of the Test, the West Indies resuming from their overnight score of 224-9, were eventually bowled out for 230 when Praveen Jayawickrama trapped Shannon Gabriel lbw for 2 leaving Joshua Da Silva not out on 15.
Jayawickrama finished with figures of 4-40 from 19.5 overs to be the best of Sri Lanka’s bowlers.
Leading by 156 on first innings, Sri Lanka led by Captain Dimuth Karunaratne’s 83 and Angelo Matthews unbeaten 69, raced to 191-4 in 40.5 overs, setting West Indies a target of 348.
The pair put on 123 for the third-wicket that effectively batted the West Indies out of the match.
Rahkeem Cornwall took 2-60 while Jomel Warrican finished with 2-42.
Batting a second time the West Indies batsmen were bamboozled by the Sri Lankan spinners crumbling to 18-5 by midway the 12th over.
Ramesh Mendis did most of the damage taking 4-17. He was supported by Lasith Embuldeniya, who took 2-18.
They did meet some late resistance, though, as Da Silva and Nkrumah Bonner, the only batsmen to reach double figures, have so far but on 38 for the seventh wicket. The former is not out in 15 while Bonner is on 18. They will be hoping to bat throughout Thursday’s final day with hopeful eyes on the clouds above.
