Dimuth Karunaratne struck six boundaries during his knock of 49 not out

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Only 36.3 overs of play was possible on the first day in Colombo, but Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne starred by scoring an unbeaten 49.

The entire first session was washed out due to persistent rain, but once it relented, Sri Lanka opted to bat first.

However, they lost opener Lahiru Thirimanne early on as he was caught by New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson at short cover off the bowling of William Somerville for two runs.

Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis made up for the loss of Thirimanne with a 50-run partnership before Mendis was caught behind off the bowling of Colin de Grandhomme for 32.

Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews managed to forge an unbeaten six-run partnership before bad light brought play to an end for the day.

Karunaratne finished on 49, which came off 100 balls and included six boundaries, while Mathews has yet to get off the mark.

Somerville and De Grandhomme picked up one wicket apiece.

Sri Lanka ended day one on 85/2 and will continue batting on Friday at 09:45 local time or 04:15 GMT.