Holder's all-round show in vain as SL level series with historic win

Imran Khan-drove Pakistan bombed in 1988. Wasim Akram too neglected to move his group to a win in 1993. Sourav Ganguly and his cluster of 2002 came and fizzled. MS Dhoni and his vanquishing men couldn't do it in 2011. Misbah-ul-Haq's Pakistan floundered in 2017 yet Sri Lanka turned into the main Asian side to enroll a win at the Kensington Oval in their first since forever coordinate at the setting.

In the third and last Test against Windies on Tuesday (June 26), Sri Lanka fixed a memorable four-wicket win in Barbados to level the three-coordinate arrangement, having touched base at the scene 0-1 down. The guests pursued down 144 in the midst of a lot of dramatization as Dilruwan Perera and Kusal Perera guided the group over the line in the main session on the fourth day.

The hosts got the free day to a promising begin. Jason Holder expelled Kusal Mendis in the simple first finished of the day even before Sri Lanka could add to their medium-term score. At 81 for 6, they were still 63 short of the objective with only one perceived batting pair left in their wings. Kusal, who endured a terrible crash at the limit in the third session on the third day, exited to join Dilruwan.

With the ball not doing as much as it did under lights, the Sri Lankan match took the group forward without breaking a sweat. Their unbeaten 63-run stand kept Holder and alternate Windies bowlers under control. Kusal played through distress while Dilruwan offered some stern obstruction even as Windies tossed each and every test they had in their pack.

Windies will most likely lament not concocting a superior batting execution in their second paper. They were shot down for only 93 in the wake of grasping a helpful 50-run first-innings lead. Holder had a remarkable match as he scored 74 in the primary innings and afterward grabbed nine wickets in the match before the guests guaranteed his solitary hand wasn't sufficient for Windies to seal the arrangement.

Brief scores: Windies 204 (Jason Holder 74; Lahiru Kumara 4-58) and 93 (Kasun Rajitha 3-20) lost to Sri Lanka 154 (Niroshan Dickwella 42; Holder 4-19) and 144/6 (Kusal Perera 28*; Holder 5-41) by four wickets.