Captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul and debutant Denesh Ramdin scored half centuries to guide West Indies to 271-6 on the opening day of their two-test series against Sri Lanka.The inexperienced tourists, missing 10 leading players due to a protracted player contracts dispute, were expected to struggle against a full-strength Sri Lanka team but produced a battling display that left the home side frustrated.Chanderpaul, the only West Indies player with more than 10 caps experience, led from the Front with a skilful and tenacious 69 not out, an innings that mixed crab-like Defence with sweetly-timed clips and drives.The 30-year-old left-hander, added 79 in one-and-a-half hours with Ramdin and another 79 with off spinner Omari Banks after the tea interval in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand.The partnerships helped West Indies recover from a shaky 113-5 and gave them a chance of posting a respectable first-innings score after their brave decision to bat first under overcast skies.BRIEF SCORESWest Indies: 271/6 (R. Morton 43, S. Chanderpaul n.o. 69; D. Ramdin 56; Malinga 2/67, Wijekoon 2/49) vs Sri Lanka.
