Herath, Milinda rout Windies..

Sri Lanka made a clean sweep of the two match Test series despite losing a whole day’s play on the previous day when they outplayed the touring West Indies by 72 runs in the second Test at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo yesterday.

The Lankan victory was propelled by impressive efforts by left arm spinners Rangana Herath and Milinda Siriwardana who shared seven wickets between them.

Chasing a target of 224 for a possible victory, Windies looked well set at one stage at 80-1, but could not withstand the pressure from the Lankan spin attack, spearheaded by deputy skipper Rangana Herath who removed Denesh Ramdin (10) and Darren Bravo in the same over, both of them caught by skipper Mathews.

Resuming the innings on the final day at 20-1, they were shot out for 171 with more than a session to spare.

The hot and humid conditions at the P Sara Oval had a huge impact on the old ball, making it hard for the tourists to read it well.

The biggest asset of the Lankan attack, veteran Herath took four for 56 and he received excellent support at the other end with new boy Milinda Siriwardana doing the damage, capturing three for 25.

Attacking batsman Bravo took it upon himself to play a lone yet steady innings, occupying the crease for 157 minutes to score his 134 ball 61 before edging a ball from Herath to skipper Mathews.

Wickets fell at regular intervals with none of the other batsmen failing to live up to expectations.

With the Windies total at 138 for nine, the last-wicket pair of Kemar Roach and Jomel Warrican put on a 33-run-stand, the second highest of their second innings. The partnership came to an end when Herath had Roach trapped in front when he was on 13. Warrican was 20 not out when the jubilant Lankans began their victory celebrations.

Sir Garfield Sobers and former Sri Lankan captain Michael Tissera gave away the trophy named after them to Lankan skipper Mathews.

During the two-match series, Man of the series Herath came 15 scalps closer to another milestone in his glittering Test career and he is just seven wickets away from the 300-wicket mark which has been archived by only two other Lankan bowlers, Muttiah Muralitharan and paceman Chaminda Vass.

Milinda Siriwardena who had a victorious start to his Test career, playing his second Test, scoring two good knocks and capturing a match bag of five wickets in both innings’, was named the man of the match. The three match one-day international series starts on November 1.