COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC – West Indies extended their wretched record in Sri Lanka of never having won a Test when they crashed to a 72-run defeat in the second and final Test here yesterday at the P Sara Oval.
Chasing 244 for victory on the final day, the Windies were undermined by their now chronic feeble batting and were bundled out for a hugely disappointing 171, half-hour before tea, to concede the series 2-0.
Resuming from 20 for one following a fourth-day washout, West Indies coasted to 80 without further loss but flattered to deceive, losing their last nine wickets for 91 runs in quick time.
Left-hander Darren Bravo top-scored with a fluent 61 while opener Shai Hope got 35, the pair adding 60 for the second wicket in a partnership that boosted the visitors hopes at the start of the day.
However, they were the only two of the specialist batsmen to make it past ten, as left-arm spinner Rangana Herath ripped through the innings to pick up four for 56, supported by part-time off-spinner Milinda Siriwardana who claimed three for 25.
Debutant Jomel Warrican, batting at number 11, ended on 20 not out, as the only other player to reach the 20s.
The result means West Indies have now gone without a Test win in Sri Lanka since the first match between the two teams here 25 years ago, and have now not beaten the Asians in a series since the tour of the Caribbean 12 years ago.
Also, the defeat was their sixth in eight Tests this year and it hurt their bid to make up ground on Sri Lanka who lie seventh in the ICC rankings.
West Indies looked to be making a fist of it in the first hour with both Bravo and Hope playing positively, and gathering runs at a fair clip.
Bravo, especially, appeared in fine nick, twice punching seamer Dhammika Prasad to the cover boundary before also twice clearing the ropes back overhead with Herath in a single over from the champion spinner.
Hope, too, showed glimpses of quality, easing Prasad past mid-on for four and then pulling Herath to the mid-midwicket boundary in the following over.
The pair were still together at the first drinks break but Hope perished to the fifth ball on resumption, stumped off Siriwardana as he came down to the bowler and missed a turning ball.
He batted just over 1-3/4 hours, faced 72 deliveries and counted five fours.
Marlon Samuels’ horrid series continued, with the right-hander spending half hour at the crease over six before edging off-spinner Dilruwan Perera to captain Angelo Mathews at slip, and Jermaine Blackwood followed 16 deliveries later for six, lbw to Siriwardana about half-hour before lunch.
West Indies were tentatively placed on 114 for four at the break, with Bravo unbeaten on 55, and slipped even further in the seventh over afterward when they lost Denesh Ramdin, taken at slip by Mathews off Herath for ten, at 124 for five.
Sri Lanka then struck their most telling blow of all four deliveries later in the same over when they finally snaffled Bravo, after he had batted just over 2-1/2 hours, faced 134 balls and counted three fours and two sixes.
He pushed at one from Herath which took the outside edge for Mathews to pouch his third catch of the day.
Bravo’s dismissal effectively signalled the end of the West Indies resistance as the last five wickets tumbled for 46 runs.
In the space of 15 balls, captain Jason Holder played back to Siriwardana and was plumb lbw for 17, Jerome Taylor holed out in the deep off Herath for one before Devendra Bishoo needlessly perished without scoring via the run out route, attempting a third run with Kemar Roach.
Roach, who made 13 in an hour at the crease, then combined with Warrican to frustrate Sri Lanka, in a last-wicket stand worth 33.
Fittingly however, Man-of-the-Series Herath performed the final rites when he skidded one on to Roach who missed it and was adjudged lbw.
West Indies lost the opening Test in Galle by an innings and six runs inside four days.
Scoreboard
SRI LANKA 1st Innings 200
WEST INDIES 1st Innings 163
SRI LANKA 2nd Innings 206
WEST INDIES 2nd Innings
(overnight 20 for one)
K Brathwaite lbw b Prasad 3
S Hope st K Perera b Siriwardana 35
D Bravo c Matthews b Herath 61
M Samuels c Mathews b D Perera 6
J Blackwood lbw b Siriwardana 4
+D Ramdin c Mathews b Herath 10
*J Holder lbw b Siriwardana 7
K Roach lbw b Herath 13
J Taylor c Siriwardana b Herath 1
D Bishoo run out 0
J Warrican not out 20
Extras (b3, lb1, w1, nb6) 11
TOTAL (all out, 65.5 overs) 171
Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Brathwaite), 2-80 (Hope), 3-97 (Samuels), 4-102 (Blackwood), 5-124 (Ramdin), 6-125 (Bravo), 7-133 (Holder), 8-136 (Taylor), 9-138 (Bishoo), 10-171 (Roach)
Bowling: Prasad 10-2-38-1 (w1, nb1), Pradeep 3-0-11-0 (nb1), Herath 19.5-3-56-4, D Perera 20-4-37-1, Siriwardana 13-1-25-3.
Result: Sri Lanka won by 72 runs.
Series: Sri Lanka won two-Test series 2-0.
Man-of-the-Match: Milinda Siriwardana.
Man-of-the-Series: Rangana Herath.
Umpires: Simon Fry, Rod Tucker; TV – Marais Erasmus.
