1st Test
West Indies 414 for 8 dec and 223 for 7 dec beat Sri Lanka 185 and 226 by 226 runs
Sri Lanka hurtled to defeat either side of lunch on the final day, losing the last five of their wickets within 25 deliveries, for eight runs, as West Indies went 1-0 up in the three-Test series. The telling blow had been struck earlier in the day, by Shannon Gabriel, who has been outstanding in this Test. He pitched a ball just short-of-a-length to centurion Kusal Mendis, got the ball to erupt, and drew the outside edge. Though for much of the morning, wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich had been collecting balls at knee height or below, so menacing was this delivery, that he had had to complete the catch with arms outstretched over his head.
Of the other Sri Lanka batsmen seen on day five, only Lahiru Gamage the nightwatchman showed any substantial resistance. He played out 49 balls for three runs, deadbatting almost anything that came his way, until he was eventually trapped in front of the stumps by a Devendra Bishoo googly. Everyone else fell in a heap.
The win was special because West Indies' bowlers were outstanding on a pitch that was never particularly treacherous. In the fourth innings, Roston Chase finished up with the best figures of 4 for 15, though two of those wickets were those of tailenders. More impressive were Bishoo, who took 3 for 48, and Gabriel, who was intense in patches in both innings. His match haul was 4 for 100 - figures that do not do him justice.
Upon resumption in the morning, Mendis had been secure, moving smartly to his fifth Test century, with a flick to the deep square leg boundary. He celebrated with little fuss, knowing perhaps that his team still needed many more runs from him. It wasn't to be. That Gabriel ball was nigh unplayable, and it was only because he was in good touch that he got an edge to it. No other Sri Lanka batsman crossed fifty in this Test - woeful returns, given the nature of the surface.
Of Sri Lanka's day five dismissals though, perhaps it was Dinesh Chandimal's that was the most reprehensible. He had resumed his innings on 15, having retired ill the previous day, with early symptoms of sunstroke. He was cautious for the majority of his day five stay, only venturing a boundary off a Bishoo long hop. However, he lost his temperament and his wicket an over before lunch.
Aiming to slam a Chase length ball over midwicket, he ended up miscuing the stroke badly, and looping a catch to near mid-on, where a running Kraigg Brathwaite completed the catch. Later that over, Niroshan Dickwella was struck in front of the stumps by a slider. He burned Sri Lanka's final review in desperation, out for 19.
The tail then went quickly. Herath gloved Bishoo short leg, not long after lunch. Next over, Chase had Nos. 10 and 11 caught behind - though Suranga Lakmal was unlucky to be given out, as he had not in fact made contact. Nevertheless, with all Sri Lanka's specialist batsmen out before lunch, these were merely the last rites. The final margin of victory was an enormous 226 runs. The hosts having run the match from the second day onwards, it was a West Indies domination.
2nd Test
Day 1
Sri Lanka 253
West Indies 2/0 (2 ov)
West Indies trail by 251 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the innings
Shannon Gabriel delivered a brutal spell with the new ball, then later came back to blast out the middle order to take 5 for 59. Dinesh Chandimal hit a terrific 119 not out off 185 balls, but had little support from the rest of the batting order. The result: another day dominated by West Indies, who shot the opposition out for 253, before their openers survived the two overs before stumps unscathed. The Gros Islet surface rewarded seam bowling, but had largely appeared decent for batting. In fact, Sri Lanka had chosen to bat first, expecting big runs.
It was Gabriel's early spell that defined the day. Second ball, he squared up debutant Mahela Udawatte, who sent a low catch toward third slip, where Jason Holder completed an excellent, diving low-take. Two overs late, after a confident Dhananjaya de Silva had hit two square boundaries off Gabriel's short balls, he claimed de Silva's wicket with a beauty. Having the ball jag towards the right-hander off a back-of-a-length, Gabriel struck de Silva on the forearm, watched the ball ricochet into the stumps, he gloated as he jogged past the injured batsman. De Silva had to be walked off the ground by a physio holding an ice pack, but although there were initial fears that a bone could have been fractured, X-rays have cleared de Silva of any serious injury, team manager Asanka Gurusinha said. As his arm is merely bruised, de Silva is likely to bat again in the second innings.
Gabriel took three more wickets, in much later spells. He had a length ball leap at Roshen Silva, who could only edge it to Holder again, at third slip. He drew Niroshan Dickwella into a drive and had him caught in the gully. Finally, he fired one in at the pads of Suranga Lakmal, who could not get his bat in the way, and was standing right in front of the stumps. This was Gabriel's third five-wicket haul, the other two having come against Pakistan.
Chandimal's hundred was in some ways predictable, though given the manner in which the remainder of the batting order folded, it was invaluable as well. He hit all but one of his fours behind square, but was proactive when there were singles or twos for the taking. It was not a whirlwind innings like, his knock against India in 2015. It wasn't a stonewall, like his century in Abu Dhabi last year. This was something in the middle, and in this game, that is what his teammates needed. He had had two clear reprieves in the innings though. On 14, he was dropped by Devon Smith at second slip, off the bowling of Miguel Cummins. On 119, he top-edged a flick to the man at point, only for bowler Kemar Roach to have been shown to have overstepped. Towards the end of the innings, he even launched Roach over long off for six.
Elsewhere, West Indies' bowlers ran rampant. Kusal Mendis had batted alluringly for 45, before trying a swat off his hips, which ended up looping into the air, to be caught by wicketkeeper Dowrich as he ran towards square leg. Holder was the bowler. Later in the day, Roach knocked out Nos. 10 and 11 in quick time, finishing with 4 for 49 himself.
Beyond Chandimal's 67-run stand with Mendis, there were no fifty-plus associations among the Sri Lanka batsmen. Through the whole innings, only Mendis and Kusal Perera could cross 30. When their innings ended, West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Smith came to the crease, and saw out the final two overs.
Day 2
Sri Lanka 253
West Indies 118/2
West Indies trail by 135 runs with 8 wickets remaining in the innings
Lahiru Kumara delivered 13.3 hostile overs, and Kasun Rajitha was probing on Test debut, but a half-century from Devon Smith drove West Indies foreward on a rain-hit second day. They stand only 135 runs behind Sri Lanka, with eight wickets still in hand. Only 42.3 overs were delivered in the day, the rain arriving during lunch to wash out much of the afternoon and evening sessions, before stumps were eventually drawn due to bad light at 5:55 pm.
Snith was measured for much of the day, hitting only four fours (two of which were edges past the slip cordon) and a six in his 53 not out off 134 balls. He had his outside edge beaten on plenty of occasions, even through the last few overs of the day, but he did enough to survive, and did not miss out when genuinely poor balls were on offer. The half-century is his seventh overall, and his first since April 2015. Smith was especially strong on the legside in this innings, once advancing to launch Akila Dananjaya over long on for six.
Kumara, perhaps, will consider himself unlucky for having only collected figures of 1 for 48. He troubled each of the four West Indies batsmen who came to the crease on day two, often surprising them with the bounce and pace he generated. He touched 145kph on occasion, generally aiming at the batsmen's ribs. His breakthrough came very late in the day - Kusal Mendis diving to his right from second slip to complete an excellent low take off Kieran Powell, who had attempted to drive that ball. In the first session, Kumara could easily have had Kraigg Brathwaite lbw, with a ball that jagged in from well outside off stump. The ball had hit Brathwaite above the knee-roll though, and umpire Aleem Dar felt it was probably going over the stumps.
Rajitha was not quite so aggressive, but there was obviousl skill to the manner in which he operated. He moved the ball both ways off the pitch, and frequently went looking for that edge, his length often full and his line always testing. He had made the first breakthrough, shortly before lunch. Angling a ball in at Brathwaite, Rajitha got it to straighten just a fraction. The result was a feather edge to the wicketkeeper - that touch so light that Brathwaite even reviewed believing he had not hit the ball. DRS disagreed, however. Brathwaite was out for 22 off 79 balls, having gritted his way through almost the entire first session.
So disciplined had Sri Lanka's quicks been in the first session that West Indies made only 63 runs in 25 overs. The scoring rate increased after the first extended rain break, but went south again in the final 6.2-over stretch of play.
Encouragingly for Sri Lanka, there was decent turn for their offspinner Dananjaya on day two. Nevertheless, West Indies are still completely in control of this game, particularly with their strong middle order still alive in the first innings.
Day 3
Sri Lanka 253 and 34 for 1 (Udawatte 11*) trail West Indies 300 (Smith 61, Dowrich 55, Kumara 4-86, Rajitha 3-49) by 13 runs
Sri Lanka's quicks scythed through the West Indies lower order, and finished only 13 runs behind for the loss of one wicket by stumps. But it was what they did at the start of the day that loomed over this game. For two hours, they refused to take the field, and when they did, it was only "under protest". The reason? Match officials had charged them with ball tampering, slapping on a five-run penalty, and changing the ball that had been used on day one. Sri Lanka's coach and team management were seen in animated discussions with match officials, after being told of the tampering allegations shortly before the teams were set to take the field. They were eventually convinced to resume play, but deny any "wrongdoing" according to a board release. An inquiry on these charges will be held after stumps on Saturday.
Though there is a major controversy brewing, this is now a finely-balanced Test, the visitors fighting back hard, after having allowed West Indies to take control of the match over the first two days. The definitive period of play was the 20.3 overs they delivered with the second new ball, either side of tea. In that period they took the six final West Indies wickets for 59 runs - Lahiru Kumara taking three of those wickets, to finish with an impressive 4 for 84 on a day in which he had bowled deliveries as fast as 149kph. Kasun Rajitha also collected encouraging figures in his first Test innings, removing Devendra Bishoo and Jason Holder in a single intense spell, to end with 3 for 49.
The pitch, though, remained helpful for the quicks, especially when they bowled with the new ball, and Sri Lanka will know they are in for another fight tomorrow. Sri Lanka had just under an hour to bat at the end of the day, and were frequently in trouble through this period. Kusal Perera played a stroke-filled 23-ball innings, collecting three boundaries, and miscuing other aerial shots. He was out for 20, leaden-footedly edging Shannon Gabriel to the wicketkeeper. The only batsmen who can be said to have prospered for a meaningful length of time on day three were Shane Dowrich, who hit 55, and Roston Chase, who joined Dowrich for a 78-run fifth-wicket stand.
Where in Trinidad Sri Lanka had allowed West Indies' lower order to compile a formidable first-innings total almost on their own, it was Kumara's intensity and Rajitha's perseverance that enabled the visitors to shut this West Indies innings down in relatively quick time. Dowrich and Chase had built an ominous stand and had taken West Indies to within 14 runs of Sri Lanka's first-innings total with six wickets still in hand, when the second new ball became available. Kumara struck the first blow, having Chase caught at short midwicket for 44. He would later return to knock out the last two wickets, nailing Kemar Roach in front of leg stump with a yorker, and having Shannon Gabriel top edge a heave off the short ball.
In between, Rajitha and Suranga Lakmal moved the ball consistently off the seam, and all three bowlers drew plenty of false strokes - the lower order seeming to play and miss more often than they made connection.
Earlier in the day, only 12.3 overs had been possible because of Sri Lanka's refusal to take the field. When they did begin to play, Kumara was seemingly channelling the ire felt in the Sri Lanka dressing room, sending down a barrage of hostile short deliveries at the overnight pair. Smith was unruffled by the strategy, and batted with caution, much as he had on the previous day. Shai Hope was not as confident, and was eventually out edging Lakmal to the cordon for 19. Subtlety - rather than menace - would later be the end of Smith. Expecting an offbreak from Akila Dananjaya, who was operating around the wicket to the left-hander, Smith was struck on the pad by a slider that would have gone on to hit the stumps. He had made a vital 61, however. Not only was Smith's the highest individual score in West Indies' total of 300, it was an important innings for a batsman who is attempting to win a consistent place in this team, at the age of 36.
Day 4
Sri Lanka 253 & 334/8 * (89 ov)
West Indies 300
Day 4: Sri Lanka lead by 287 runs with 2 wickets remaining
Two dashing innings - a confident 87 off 117 from Kusal Mendis, and a stroke filled 62 off 70 from Niroshan Dickwella - propelled Sri Lanka to a 287-run lead in St Lucia, edging them ahead in this match. Although Shannon Gabriel bowled spiritedly through the fourth day, collecting figures of 6 for 57 to take his match haul to 11 for 116, Sri Lanka still have two wickets remaining in their second innings. Only twice in this century have West Indies chased a higher score for victory. That the visitors found themselves in such a healthy position is a testament to their fight on day four, having found themselves effectively four wickets down with a lead of only one run, in the first hour of play.
Two big partnerships built this Sri Lanka innings. The first was the 117-run fifth-wicket stand between Mendis and a lucky Dinesh Chandimal, who could have been out twice on his way to 39 off 112 balls. The second was the 99-run association between Dickwella and Roshen Silva, after Mendis and Chandimal had fallen within 10 overs of one another. Silva made his first significant score of the series, hitting 48 off 115, while Mendis and Dickwella batted more aggressively at the other end. Both Silva and Dickwella were out to the second new ball, but late in the day, Suranga Lakmal and Akila Dananjaya put on a useful unbeaten partnership amounting to 27. As that second new ball is only nine overs old, however, West Indies will hope to knock out the last two wickets before the lead stretches to 300 on the fifth morning.
Gabriel has been the best bowler in the series by a distance, and Cricket West Indies' recent decision to switch to the Dukes cricket ball appears to be suiting him well. He sometimes attempted to intimidate the batsmen, sending plenty at the ribs and at the throat, but it was the ball that he seamed in from outside off stump that brought him the most joy on day four. He struck nightwatchman Kasun Rajitha in front of the stumps in his first over of the day, then bowled Mendis off an inside edge much later. Roshen Silva was also out to a ball that bounced and nipped back at him more than he expected - Shane Dowrich snatching a tough chance close to the ground after Silva had gloved it.
Only Dananjaya de Silva and Dickwella got out to Gabriel deliveries pitched on fuller lengths. Dananjaya was caught at slip attempting an expansive drive - the ball seaming away to take the outside edge. Dickwella merely slapped a full ball into the hands of mid-off, after Gabriel had pitched on a leg stump line.
Where during his Trinidad hundred Mendis had had reprieves early in his innings, in this knock he was secure and polished. In the morning, he thwarted Gabriel's short deliveries, defused Miguel Cummins and Roach, while taking a particular liking to Devendra Bishoo's legspin, which he hit for 18 off 13 balls. As usual, he favoured the sweep to the spinners, and scored all but 12 of his total runs through the legside, the most attractive of his strokes an elegant push off Roach through mid-on for four early in the day. After lunch, he was especially confident. He whipped Roach over the leg side for six on two occasions, and swivel-pulled Jason Holder to the midwicket boundary for four. Some of the pressure he exerted on the bowlers through his positive approach had sucked some venom out of the West Indies effort, especially earlier in the day.
Dickwella had a slightly easier task, not having to face the newer ball, but his innings was nevertheless important, after he had arrived at the crease with Sri Lanka in some peril. He scored most of his runs in the arc between third man and cover, audaciously carving two boundaries over the slip cordon whenever he was given some width. But even though he struck at 89, less than half of Dickwella's runs came from boundaries. The big shots may have been the most memorable, but this was an innings held together by sharp singles and twos.
Of the two supporting acts, Silva was better than Chandimal in this innings. For the first time in Caribbean, Silva managed to ride that sharp bounce that the West Indies quicks tend to generate, and stuck around while Dickwella scored more quickly at the other end. Chandimal was also reticent, only hitting a single boundary in an innings that stretched to 112 deliveries. He should have been out twice in one Gabriel over in the last half hour of the first session. First, he was struck in front of the stumps, but the appeal was turned down because two noises were heard. As it turned out, the second noise was the ball hitting his back pad, and had West Indies reviewed, they would have had Chandimal out for 21. Two balls later, Gabriel sent a bouncer at his throat and had Chandimal caught at gully. But thanks to Kusal Mendis, who had watched Gabriel overstep and prompted the umpire to check the front foot, Chandimal survived.
All this, after West Indies had threatened to run away with this Test with their early-morning surge. Inside the first seven overs of the day, they had taken three wickets - those of Rajitha, de Silva and Mahela Udawatte. Having had Sri Lanka 47 for 4, they will perhaps be disappointed that the score has now swelled to 334 for 8.
Day 5
Sri Lanka 253 (Chandimal 119*, Mendis 45, Gabriel 5-59, Roach 4-49) and 342 (Mendis 87, Dickwella 62, Gabriel 8-62) drew with West Indies 300 (Smith 61, Kumara 4-86) and 147 for 5 (Brathwaite 59*, Hope 39, Rajitha 2-23, Lakmal 2-48)
Sri Lanka had dismissed the stubborn Shai Hope soon after tea, giving themselves one final chance to surge to victory, but then the rains arrived, followed by bad light. In the end, West Indies drew the match with five wickets in hand, with 32.3 overs lost to the conditions. Perhaps Sri Lanka will rue the two hours they had spent off the field, protesting the ball-tampering charge on Saturday. Another 25 overs of play could have seen them scythe through the West Indies lower order, as they had in the first innings.
Though the rain clouds sealed the draw, it was Kraigg Brathwaite who had set it all up. He was secure in defense and resolute in attitude right through the day, refusing to be shaken by Sri Lanka's short-ball bursts, declining to be lured into loose drives, and capably defusing the spinners, who even on day five did not gain substantial turn off this pitch. Brathwaite's innings soaked up 172 balls, moving to 58 not out during its course. Hope resisted best in his company. The two of them saw out 35.5 of the 60.3 overs Sri Lanka bowled at them in the day. Hope's innings was split into two, because he had had to go off after being hit in the ribs by Lahiru Kumara, but he nevertheless played a vital hand, batting out 115 balls while scoring 39.
Sri Lanka will likely be disappointed that even the overs that were available to them had proved insufficient. By lunch, they had had three wickets, and seemed set to surge quickly to victory, their quicks running hot. The first West Indies wickets had not taken long to come - Kasun Rajitha seaming a delivery away from left-hander Devon Smith to have him nick one to second slip in the fourth over of the innings, before moving one into Kieran Powell to have him caught at square leg. Before they had even got to double figures, West Indies were two down. Later in the session, after Hope had been struck and forced to exit the field, Roston Chase had his off stump uprooted by Suranga Lakmal, who set the batsman up with a succession of away-seamers, before sneaking a straight ball through his defences.
Then came the main Brathwaite-Hope stand. Although obviously still sore, Hope negotiated a fresh short-ball examination with aplomb, even smacking a Lakmal bouncer for six in front of square. There were times when he played and missed, and others when he miscued shots, but the chances never went to hand. Brathwaite seemed much more in control, getting plenty of bat even to the balls that surprised him either by staying low, or leaping alarmingly. Inconsistent bounce had become a feature of this surface through the day. It was the second session, in which West Indies only lost the wicket of Shane Dowrich to the offspin of Akila Dananjaya, that the hosts really laid the groundwork for this result. Hope and Brathwaite put on 53 for the fifth wicket.
Fourth ball after tea, Lakmal got a ball to cut in at Hope and had it ricochet off his elbow into the stumps, but although suddenly Sri Lanka were alive again, the weather soon intervened. First the rains washed out about 78 minutes of play. Although the teams took the field again, only 2.3 overs were possible before the umpires hauled them off again for bad light. The final delivery was proof that there was still life in this pitch - Jason Holder struck in the box by a ball that jagged in off a length.
But before Sri Lanka even began bowling, Shannon Gabriel had imposed himself on the day again, as he has throughout these first two Tests. He blasted out the last two Sri Lanka wickets, to claim an exceptional match haul of 13 for 121 - the third best in West Indies' storied bowling history. He struck Suranga Lakmal in front of the stumps before Sri Lanka had got off the mark for the day, then bowled Dananjaya twice, in his second over. The first of those dismissals was wrongly deemed illegitimate, umpire Ian Gould signalling a no-ball, even though a sliver of Gabriel's boot had landed behind the line.
