Roach’s 300th wicket headlines West Indies’ innings win over Sri Lanka

Kemar Roach rampaged his way to his 300th Test wicket, Jayden Seales, Shamar Joseph, and Alzarri Joseph all bowled menacing spells, and West Indies blasted Sri Lanka out for 101, completing a behemoth innings-and-217-run victory.

Gaining significantly more movement in the air and off the surface than Sri Lanka’s quicks had, West Indies’ fast bowlers threatened to take wickets right through day four’s 27.2 overs.

It was Roach that was getting the ball to hoop most, however, finding massive inswing into the right-hander, often late in the ball’s trajectory, to threaten the pads and stumps of the right-handers he bowled to, and the outside edges of the left-handers.

Roach’s 300th wicket was the ninth of Sri Lanka’s innings, Asitha Fernando’s stumps being clattered by a full one speared in from wide of the crease.

He was mobbed by adoring team-mates who seemed to take even more delight in his milestone than him, and was later presented a West Indies Test shirt with the number 300 on it to commemorate the occasion.

He is the first West Indies bowler since Curtly Ambrose to the milestone. Among fast bowlers, only Courtney Walsh, Ambrose, and Malcolm Marshall have more wickets for West Indies than him.

Sri Lanka were woeful with the bat, and played like a team fatigued from 160.5 overs in the field on days two and three. Dinesh Chandimal was the only batter who managed even some semblance of resistance, batting out 60 balls for his 43. No other batter in the top six managed a double figure score.

Some were pinged in front by balls that jagged in. Others nicked off against deliveries that moved away.

Two – Kamindu Mendis and Kusal Mendis – had the tops of their off stumps pinged after they had left the ball. West Indies bowled exquisite lines, and rarely bowled a bad ball. Even Sri Lanka’s exceedingly rare boundaries tended to come from full deliveries when the bowlers had gone looking for swing.

After Roach opened the day’s wicket-taking in the first over, swinging a ball into Nishan Madushka’s pads, Seales struck in his own first over, getting nightwatcher Kasun Rajitha to edge to the cordon.

Soon after, Shamar Joseph struck twice, pinging Kamindu’s off stump as he shouldered arms, before pinging Dhananjaya de Silva’s front pad to catch him lbw. Late in the session, Alzarri got himself a wicket too, in similar fashion. Having got a ball to leave Kusal, he had the next one jag back into Kusal, who had also let the ball hit his off stump uninterrupted.

Sri Lanka went to lunch at 81-6 and it only took West Indies 6.1 further overs to remove the remaining batters. Roach struck twice in two overs to get to his 300th, and after some strong words exchanged with Lahiru Kumara and Sonal Dinusha, Seales took the final wicket to complete a stunning victory.

West Indies, essentially, have dominated this Test from start to finish. And they were so spectacularly dominant in days three and four, they crushed an opponent that had been expected to compete. (ESPNcricinfo)