Phew, that ends another series win for Sri Lanka at home, the second of those coming after trailing at one stage. Meanwhile, despite the loss, West Indies will have positives to take back: wickets from Permaul and Warrican, and runs from Bonner. We now wrap up the tour, and thanks for your company throughout. This is Himanshu signing off on behalf of Karthik, Ranjith and Deiva. Stay safe, and take care!

Atanu Sen: "Sri Lanka have improved drastically since the failure of 2019 CWC. The team is going through rebuilding process its not easy for a team to bounce back after hard times. But credit should go to the team management for transforming this team into a great shape. Sri Lanka now can surely give a tough competition to other teams. It will be interesting to see how Sri Lanka perform in the overseas Congratulations to Sri Lanka on test series victory."

Simon: "Inexplicable that Mendis is not PoM"

Dimuth will now lift the Sobers-Tissera trophy from the man himself, Michael Tissera.

Here comes the winning captain Karunaratne: "The boys knew what to do in the conditions, especially Ramesh, Pathum and Dhananjaya. Pathum was very confident, and he was rotating the strike, which is what I expect. Hopefully, he can convert his fifties into the big scores. Oshada did a very hard job in the field. He was not scared. I want to lead from the front, and now I am looking forward to the next series against India. Mickey Arthur was a father to me. He was always there for me and the team. We are worried that he is leaving, but I wish him good luck for the future." [He now speaks in Sinhalese to thank the ground staff and the crowd]

The visiting captain Brathwaite speaks now: "Our batting in the first innings. We were in a good position. I should have got a big hundred, but we let ourselves down. We had a chance [when Sri Lanka's ninth-wicket stand put on hundred in the second innings]. It is not easy starting on this pitch, so it is important to bowl as well as possible. As batters, we need to do it for longer periods. If we can do that, the team can be in a better position."

But then, Ramesh Mendis is the Player of the Series: "Pleased that I was able to bowl my country to a win, and with the support from my coaches and the other spinners. I thank my coaches, and hard work is the secret of my success. I am more of a bowling bowling allrounder now, though I was more of a batting allrounder in domestic cricket."

Ramesh Mendis Dhananjaya de Silva is the Player of the Match: "Batsman can score when under pressure, and I enjoy it. I am working hard for these hundreds, and my father's blessings are on me. It was tough, the ball was turning when their spinners were bowling on good lines and lengths. We had to be safe, so we had to bat long. That was the plan. I want to mention about Mickey Arthur and Grant Flower for being with us."

Time for the presentations

Vijay: "If only Holder hadn't picked up that one wicket it would have been 39 out of 39 for the spinners" --- And the run-outs?

Ian: "Another SL win, another SL awesome performance, another performance to prove SL team is growing toward the glory days... SL cricket looking good. "

Manith: "What a come back by SL ! This is the best farewell match ever to a wonderful coach named Mickey Arthur who developed a team from zero to hero. Thanks a lot Mickey for everything! "

And in case we forgot, this was Mickey Arthur's final game in charge of the Sri Lanka side before he leaves for Derbyshire. A brilliant come-from-behind win to ensure he walks off with some nice celebrations in the dressing room.

Ronald Kirui: "as a west indies fan, honestly what kinda joke is this...each game is exactly the same debacle. Can this year end."

Sandeep: "Shout out to the guy who commented mid day yesterday that SL will score 310/9d, Windies will be bowled out for 120 and SL will win by 141. Not too far off buddy"

Meanwhile, here's a nice stat from Gaurav Sundararaman from the stats team: this is only the second time that two Sri Lanka spinners have taken five wickets each in a Test. The last such instance was against Zimbabwe, back in 2002.

Muzahid: "Embuldeniya dropped the catch to get his fifth xD"

2.39pm Another West Indies collapse, another West Indies loss and another disappointment. From 65 for 1 to 132 all out in the second innings, which followed 166 for 2 to 253 all out in the first. But take nothing away from Sri Lanka's spinners Mendis and Embuldeniya, and in particular the former, who finished with 11 in the game. Sri Lanka grabbed the opportunity of the pitch easing out yesterday with both hands, and led by DDS' 155*, set the tone for another win.

56.1
W
Embuldeniya to Warrican, OUT, He does, and both Embuldeniya and Mendis end with five each! Simple catch at first slip, and nabbed to round off the win. Gives the ball air to go full on off, as Warrican tried to clip that with an angled bat. But he ended up getting a leading edge right in the bag of slip, and bang! Sri Lanka wrap up a 2-0 series win

JA Warrican c de Silva b Embuldeniya 3 (6m 3b 0x4 0x6) SR: 100.00

Can Embuldeniya has his own five-for now?

Nick: "Waking up and seeing 81/2 didn't make sense, but this is a much more familiar sight. Can't wait to hear Braithwaite talk about the top and middle order needing to give more application in an hour."

END OF OVER:
56 | 3 Runs 1 Wkt | WI: 132/9

  • Joshua Da Silva4 (15b)
  • Jomel Warrican3 (2b)
  • Ramesh Mendis25-6-66-5
  • Lasith Embuldeniya20-6-35-4
55.6
0
Mendis to Da Silva, no run, fuller ball, and just outside off. Goes deep in the crease to tap at that
55.5
1
Mendis to Warrican, 1 run, and again. Goes to hoick that full ball on off, but gets that off the inside half of the bat to deep midwicket
55.4
2
Mendis to Warrican, 2 runs, dropped at deep midwicket! Embuldeniya the fielder there, leaving Mickey Arthur wodnering. Warrican presented the high elbow heave to the on side, as he lofted that full ball on middle and off with the full face of the bat, But safe in the end

Warrican is the last man in. Mendis from over the wicket

55.3
W
Mendis to Permaul, OUT, five for Mendis, but wait... Permaul reviews. How active has the third umpire been made to be today? Anyway, the ball is tossed up on a fullish length pitching outside off, and turning well into the batter, who is standing well across off while trying to tap that to the on side. But his bat around off stump as he misses, and so there is no inside edge there. And replays show the turn would have helped the ball clatter into middle stump. So Mendis has five, and 11 for the match so far

V Permaul lbw b Mendis 1 (5m 5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 20.00

55.2
0
Mendis to Permaul, no run, massive turn, and appreciable bounce too. Good length ball outside off and turning in as he misses his attempted slash
55.1
0
Mendis to Permaul, no run, skips down to try and block that full ball on middle and off, and defends off the inside edge on to his pad

Can Mendis get his fifth? Over the wicket to Permaul.

Shehan: "I'm very impressed with these two umpires decisions…"

END OF OVER:
55 | 5 Runs 1 Wkt | WI: 129/8

  • Veerasammy Permaul1 (2b)
  • Joshua Da Silva4 (14b)
  • Lasith Embuldeniya20-6-35-4
  • Ramesh Mendis24-6-63-4
54.6
1
Embuldeniya to Permaul, 1 run, clips that good length ball on middle and leg toward fine leg with the closed face of the bat
54.5
0
Embuldeniya to Permaul, no run, very full on middle, and he swings his bat with that big backlift to ultimately nudge it back

Permaul is in. Embuldeniya from around the wicket.

54.4
W
Embuldeniya to Roach, OUT, appeal for leg before, and given. But this Roach reviews. Another full ball given some air, but this one pitches on leg. Roach goes to sweep but misses, as the ball strikes his front pad after turning away. There is no edge there, and replays confirm the sharp turn: the ball landed just about on leg stump for a bowler's liking, and is shown to have turned away to hit off stump. West Indies sliding further

KAJ Roach lbw b Embuldeniya 13 (20m 17b 3x4 0x6) SR: 76.47

54.3
4
Embuldeniya to Roach, FOUR, heaved to wide long-on. Goes swinging at that full and tossed up ball on middle and off, and swings across the line to beat mid-on to his right. Tried to play against the turn as well
54.2
0
Embuldeniya to Roach, no run, very full on off - almost a yorker - as he jams that back toward cover

West Indies 4th innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st15KC BrathwaiteJ Blackwood
2nd50NE BonnerJ Blackwood
3rd27NE BonnerSD Hope
4th0NE BonnerRL Chase
5th0NE BonnerKR Mayers
6th11NE BonnerJO Holder
7th5NE BonnerJ Da Silva
8th20KAJ RoachJ Da Silva
9th1V PermaulJ Da Silva
10th3JA WarricanJ Da Silva