GALLE: Sri Lanka spinners Ramesh Mendis and Lasith Embuldeniya picked up five wickets apiece against the West Indies to lead the hosts to a 164-run victory on the final day of the second test in Galle on Friday.

Off-spinner Mendis completed his second five-wicket haul to finish with 11 wickets in the match as Sri Lanka completed a 2-0 series win against the Caribbean side to pick up the full 24 points on offer in the World Test Championship.

Sri Lanka, who were all out for 204 in the first innings, declared their second innings closed at 345 for nine early on the fifth day, setting the tourists a target of 297 to try and win the match and level the series.

While the target seemed out of reach on a track assisting the spinners, a draw did not seem unlikely when West Indies reached 65 for one.

But Mendis (5-66) and Embuldeniya (5-35) then ran through the batting lineup to bundle them out for 132 in the second session as West Indies lost their last eight wickets for 40 runs.

Mendis, 26, took his tally to 18 wickets in the two Tests to pick up the player of the series award.

“One thing Ramesh does is he spins the ball really big,” said outgoing Sri Lanka head coach Mickey Arthur after he signed off with a win.

“We’ve just had to work on him being really consistent with his lines and with his lengths — the attacking lines that he’s worked on. I just think he’s getting his just rewards now.”

Embuldeniya finished with seven wickets across the two innings as the Sri Lankan spinners took all 20 West Indies wickets to fall in the match.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite was disappointed with the result but sought to single out positives for his side.

“When you are playing in these conditions, it is always a learning curve,” he said. “I am sure we will get better.”

Sri Lanka were still batting when play started on the final day and they declared their second innings in the morning session.

Dhananjaya de Silva, adjudged the player of the match, was unbeaten on 155 and his overnight partner Embuldeniya was out for 39 bowled by Jason Holder.

De Silva faced 262 balls and hit two sixes and 11 boundaries in scoring his eighth test century.

West Indies lost their first second-innings wicket with the total on 15 when captain Brathwaite (6) was trapped lbw by Mendis.

Then Nkrumah Bonner joined Jermaine Blackwood and the pair added 50 runs for the second wicket before Blackwood (36) was caught by de Silva off Embuldeniya in the last ball before lunch break.

When Mendis had Shai Hope (16) caught by Lakmal, West Indies’ score stood at 92-3, but it triggered the late collapse.

Bonner top scored for the West Indies with 44.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA (1st innings) 204 (P. Nissanka 73, D. Karunaratne 42; V. Permaul 5-35, J. Warrican 4-50) WEST INDIES (1st innings) 253 (K. Brathwaite 72, J. Blackwood 44; R. Mendis 6-70)
SRI LANKA (2nd innings; 328-8 overnight): D. Karunaratne run out 6 P. Nissanka lbw b Chase 66 O. Fernando run out 14 C. Asalanka c Bonner b Permaul 19 D. de Silva not out 155 D. Chandimal c & b Chase 2 R. Mendis c Roach b Brathwaite 25 S. Lakmal lbw b Permaul 7 A. Mathews c Blackwood b Permaul 1 L. Embuldeniya b Holder 39 EXTRAS (B-4, LB-4, W-1, NB-2) 11 TOTAL (for nine wkts declared, 119 overs) 345 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7 (Karunaratne), 2-39 (Fernando), 3-73 (Asalanka), 4-151 (Nissanka), 5-157 (Chandimal), 6-208 (Mendis), 7-219 (Lakmal), 8-221 (Mathews), 9-345 (Embuldeniya). BOWLING: Permaul 40-4-106-3, Chase 27-2-82-2, Warrican 29-5-76-0, Roach 8-0-27-0 (1w, 2nb), Holder 9.4-1-26-1, Brathwaite 5-0-11-1, Bonner 3-1-9-0. WEST INDIES (2nd innings): K. Brathwaite lbw b Mendis 6 J. Blackwood c de Silva b Embuldeniya 36 N. Bonner b Embuldeniya 44 S. Hope c Lakmal b Mendis 16 R. Chase c Fernando b Mendis 0 K. Mayers c de Silva b Mendis 0 J. Holder c de Silva b Embuldeniya 3 J. da Silva not out 4 K. Roach lbw b Embuldeniya 13 V. Permaul lbw b Mendis 1 J. Warrican c de Silva b Embuldeniya 3 EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2) 6 TOTAL (all out, 56.1 overs) 132 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-15 (Brathwaite), 2-65 (Blackwood), 3-92 (Hope), 4-92 (Chase), 5-92 (Mayers), 6-92 (Holder), 7-108 (Bonner), 8-128 (Roach), 9-128 (Permaul). BOWLING: Embuldeniya 20.1-6-35-5, Mendis 25-6-66-5, Jayawickrama 10-3-23-0, Asalanka 1-0-2-0. RESULT: Sri Lanka won by 164 runs.
SERIES: Sri Lanka won 2-0. MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Dhananjaya de Silva (Sri Lanka). MAN-OF- THE-SERIES: Ramesh Mendis (Sri Lanka). UMPIRES: Kumar Dharmasena and Ruchira Palliyaguruge (both Sri Lanka). THIRD UMPIRE: Lyndon Hannibal (Sri Lanka). MATCH REFEREE: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2021