Kemar Roach achieved the milestone of 300 Test wickets as he spearheaded West Indies to a crushing innings and 217-run victory over Sri Lanka on the fourth day of the opening Test of a two-match series at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Sunday. Having trailed by 318 runs on first innings, the visitors crumbled to just 101 half an hour after the lunch break as Roach orchestrated a relentless fast bowling assault. Remarkably, his international career appeared to be finished just a year earlier, only for him to be brought back into the fold amid an injury crisis among West Indies’ pace attack during the New Zealand tour at the close of 2025. All-Round Display Helps West Indies Secure A Big Win Over Sri Lanka.
Toss
West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl.
Playing XI
West Indies:
John Campbell, Brandon King, Kavem Hodge, Amir Jangoo, Joshua Da Silva (w), Justin Greaves, Roston Chase (c), Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales
Sri Lanka:
Nishan Madushka, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kusal Mendis (w), Sonal Dinusha, Milan Priyanath Rathnayake, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando
Day 1
West Indies’ choice to bowl first paid off almost immediately. Kemar Roach exploited the extra bounce on offer to great effect, dismissing Pathum Nissanka in the very first over. Nishan Madushka was handed an early lifeline and seemed intent on making the most of it, smashing a short, wide Alzarri Joseph delivery for six. However, the bowler had the final say, trapping him leg before in the same over and then claiming the prized wicket of Kamindu Mendis off the very next ball. Though the hat-trick eluded him, Alzarri had firmly tilted the contest in West Indies’ favour.
Dinesh Chandimal and de Silva steadied the ship with a productive 68-run stand, maintaining a healthy scoring rate throughout. Chandimal kept the runs flowing with regular boundaries while the pacers continued to probe. Dhananjaya too found his rhythm, pulling Shamar Joseph for two boundaries in a single over. By the lunch interval, the momentum had swung considerably in Sri Lanka’s direction. However, the resumption brought a crushing blow when Shamar conjured a brilliant delivery to shatter Chandimal’s defence. The half-centurion’s dismissal was followed almost immediately by that of Kusal Mendis, who edged to slip in the same over.
At 110 for 5, Sri Lanka was in serious strife, with the West Indies eyeing the lower order. Yet Dhananjaya found a resolute partner in Sonal Dinusha. Playing just his second Test, Dinusha stood firm alongside his captain to rebuild the innings steadily. Both batters struck boundaries with surprising regularity, carrying the visitors past 200 in a session that ultimately ended on a brighter note for Sri Lanka.
The final session, though, opened with a setback when Roach broke a threatening 99-run partnership by having Dinusha adjudged leg before. West Indies’ relief proved brief, as Dhananjaya forged another valuable stand, this time with Milan Rathnayake. The Sri Lanka skipper then drove Jayden Seales through the boundary to bring up a magnificent century and kept the hosts at arm’s length. Eventually, a leading edge brought his downfall for 120. Some useful lower-order hitting helped Sri Lanka cross the 300-run mark before being bowled out in what was ultimately a shared day of honours.
Day 2
West Indies came out of the blocks quickly on the second day. Openers John Campbell and Brandon King navigated the first hour safely and then shifted gears, sharing a 58-run opening stand. Milan Rathnayake broke that partnership in the 14th over by dismissing King, but Campbell pressed ahead alongside Kavem Hodge, guiding West Indies to 89 for 1 at the lunch break.
Sri Lanka emerged after the interval with renewed intent and made inroads at more regular intervals. Campbell fell early in the afternoon session to Sonal Dinusha, and while Hodge, Joshua da Silva, and Justin Greaves all made starts, none could convert them into a substantial contribution. Jangoo and da Silva came closest, putting on 52 together to lay the foundation for a recovery, but an impressively economical Asitha Fernando — returning figures of 2 for 25 from 18 overs — removed the latter. Four wickets tumbled for just 79 runs in the middle session, giving Sri Lanka genuine hope of regaining control.
Jangoo and Chase then combined for a remarkable rearguard, occupying the crease for 203 deliveries and batting out the entirety of the final session without interruption. Sri Lanka were also hampered by the early departure of Lahiru Kumara, who left the field with a hamstring injury. Taking full advantage of the depleted attack, the pair added 103 runs to push West Indies to within touching distance of Sri Lanka’s first-innings total.
Day 3
Jangoo, who had batted with such grit on Day 2, grew even more commanding on the third day—first reaching his century before scaling an even greater personal summit. Astonishingly, he achieved this in only his third Test innings. Chase, meanwhile, seized the chance to arrest his declining Test average, threatening a dream double hundred before being bowled by Sonal Dinusha for a superb 194.
Between them, the pair kept Sri Lanka toiling in the field for 100.2 overs across Days 2 and 3. They had resumed on Saturday at 271 for 5, still 37 runs adrift of Sri Lanka’s first-innings total of 308. It took just over an hour to overhaul that deficit and push further ahead. Jangoo brought up his century shortly before lunch, by which point West Indies had established a lead of nearly 50. Sri Lanka continued to search desperately for a breakthrough in the middle session as the sixth-wicket stand swelled by another 136 runs. In the opening hour of the final session, Jangoo raised his maiden Test double century, only to be dismissed by Milan Rathnayake shortly before the drinks break. Alzarri Joseph then fell to leave West Indies at seven down.
Chase’s pursuit of his own double hundred ultimately fell short as he departed for 194. Kemar Roach followed, falling for a duck, and Chase declared with a commanding lead of 321 runs. Seales gave him one final reason to smile when he removed Nissanka late in the day, leaving Sri Lanka facing an enormous battle over the remaining two days.
Day 4
Sri Lanka resumed at 15 for 1, still requiring 303 runs just to avoid an innings defeat. Their morning, however, turned nightmarish from the very first over, with Nishan Madushka trapped leg before by Kemar Roach. Three balls later, nightwatchman Kasun Rajitha edged Jayden Seales behind to the slip cordon. The task facing Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal was now truly monumental.
Chandimal did manage to find the boundary on a handful of occasions, offering some resistance, while Mendis adopted a more cautious approach. Yet that strategy ultimately backfired when he shouldered arms to a Shamar Joseph delivery that clipped the top of the stumps just before the drinks break. Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva, the hero of the first innings, then departed without troubling the scorers much, also falling leg before to Shamar.
With five wickets already gone, the outcome appeared inevitable. A sharp inswinger from Roach then crashed into Kusal Mendis’ stumps just before a brief drizzle sent the ground staff rushing out with the covers. Any faint hopes Sri Lanka harboured of a rain-assisted reprieve were quickly extinguished as play resumed without significant delay.
After lunch, Roach took centre stage, dismissing both Chandimal and Milan Rathnayake in a single over to edge tantalizingly close to his personal landmark. The veteran finally arrived at his destination when he bowled Asitha Fernando to become only the fifth West Indies bowler to claim 300 Test wickets. Seales then wrapped up the innings, ending Sri Lanka’s resistance and handing West Indies their first Test victory under Roston Chase’s captaincy. Both teams will stay at the same venue for the second and final Test, scheduled to begin on Friday.
Brief Scores:
Sri Lanka 308 (Dhananjaya de Silva 120; Justin Greaves 3-39) & 101 (Dinesh Chandimal 43; Kemar Roach 4-51) lost to West Indies 626/9d (Amir Jangoo 233, Roston Chase 194) by an innings and 217 runs.
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