Fast bowler Suranga Lamkal became the 16th Test captain in the history of Sri Lanka cricket after regular skipper Dinesh Chandimal’s appeal over a ball-tampering suspension was dismissed by the ICC.

With veteran spinner Rangana Herath injured, Lakmal was entrusted with the captain’s role and he didn’t disappoint in the first session of the day-night Test against the West Indies in Barbados on Saturday.

Bowling first in one of the greenest wickets seen in the Caribbean, Lakmal extracted prodigious movement in the air and off the pitch as he snared the wickets of Windies openers Devon Smith and Kraigg Brathwaite.

He finished the opening day with figures of 2-42 as West Indies limped to 132-5.

Lakmal is the first genuine fast bowler to lead Sri Lanka in Tests.

Before him, first-ever captain Bandula Warnapura and Angelo Mathews are the only others who fall in the seam bowling category but both were batsmen of repute. Lakmal therefore is the first pace bowling Test captain in Sri Lanka’s 36-year Test history.