Sri Lanka beat West Indies to draw Test series

By AFP

June 28, 2018

BRIDGETOWN: Kusal Perera battled through the considerable discomfort of a painful chest injury in partnership with namesake Dilruwan Perera to guide Sri Lanka to an historic series-levelling four-wicket victory over the West Indies in the third and final Test at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Tuesday.

Set a target of 144 and resuming on the fourth day at the overnight position of 81 for five, Sri Lanka reached their goal for the loss of one additional wicket to become the first Asian team ever to win a Test match at Caribbean cricket’s most iconic venue.

That wicket, which fell in the very first over of the afternoon to West Indies captain Jason Holder, ushered in Kusal, whose further participation in the match was in serious doubt when he injured himself crashing into the advertising boards the previous night.

Both Kusal and Dilruwan played with great determination, weathering the storm from the West Indies fast bowlers in an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 63. Kusal finished unbeaten on 28 with Dilruwan on 23. It was Dilruwan who made the winning hit, hoisting Holder over mid-off for the boundary that sealed only Sri Lanka’s second Test victory in the West Indies.

“Me and Kusal play for the same club so we know each other,” said a delighted Dilruwan in savouring the victory. “That experience and knowledge of each other’s games helped a lot because it was challenging. The pitch was bit uneven.”

For Holder it was a cruel final twist of fate in a match in which he excelled all-around. His dismissal of Kusal Mendis, leg-before without adding to his overnight score of 25, was his fifth wicket of the innings and he finished with innings figures of five for 41 and a match analysis of nine for 59.

Holder also contributed a topscore of 74 in the West Indies first innings of 204 and was just one of four batsmen to get into double-figures when they crashed to 93 - their lowest-ever total in a Test innings in Barbados - on the third evening.

He was the obvious choice as “Man of the Match,” small consolation for his team failing to finish the job.

“We just did not have enough runs in the second innings,” Holder reflected. “We missed some chances in the field but it won’t put us down because we have a quick turnaround for the series against Bangladesh starting next week.”

Despite that early success, which raised hopes for the West Indies mowing through the tail in the same manner of 24 hours earlier in Sri Lanka’s first innings, none of the other bowlers could match their skipper’s probing accuracy and penetration.

Shannon Gabriel failed to add to his series-leading tally of 20 wickets while the experienced Kemar Roach and seamer Miguel Cummins lacked potency when it was most needed for the home side to clinch their first series victory in six years against a team ranked higher than themselves.

Score Board

West Indies won toss

West Indies 1st Innings 204 all-out (S Dowrich 71; Kumara 4-58)

Sri Lanka 1st Innings 154 all-out

West Indies 2nd Innings 93 all-out

Sri Lanka 2nd Innings

D Gunathilaka c Bishoo b Holder 21

M Udawatte lbw Roach 0

D de Silva b Holder 17

K Mendis lbw Holder 25

R Silva c Smith b Holder 1

†N Dickwella b Holder 6