Spinners fashion Sri Lanka's 2-0 series win

Lasith Embuldeniya and Ramesh Mendis engineered a massive collapse in the second innings to help Sri Lanka register a comfortable 164-run win against the West Indies and wrap up the series 2-0 in Galle.

Even though the West Indies had lost two wickets in the morning, they seemed to have a good chance of escaping with a draw. For the first 10-12 overs during the afternoon, the duo of Nkrumah Bonner and Shai Hope also showcased the necessary application to wade through a tricky period. Bonner in particular tracked the length quite well to prod forward or occasionally camp back. In the 43rd over, he also essayed a nice looking drive off Lasith Embuldeniya.

At that juncture, Sri Lanka seemed to be getting a bit desperate for that elusive breakthrough. But they didn't have to wait for long as the spin pair - Embuldeniya and Mendis - ran through the heart of the middle and lower order with the West Indies collapsing in a spectacular fashion.

It was Mendis who opened the floodgates for the hosts by bagging three scalps in a single over. Hope pulled a dragged down delivery straight into the hands of the fielder stationed at square leg. Mendis then removed both Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers to leave the visitors five down. Bonner, who could only watch the collapse from the other end, continued to scrap and also collected a boundary via leg-slip. Just that the procession of wickets continued at the other end with Jason Holder edging one off Embuldeniya to the slip fielder.

Eventually, Bonner himself lost his concentration as he chopped one onto the stumps. Once Bonner was dismissed for a 143-ball 44, the result of the match was more or less a foregone conclusion. The duo of Kemar Roach and Joshua Da Silva survived a review each before Embuldeniya nipped out the former. The two spinners then picked up the last two wickets to fall in the next couple of overs to provide the finishing touches to what turned out to be a perfect session for the hosts. Mendis finished the match with a rich haul of 11 wickets.

Sri Lanka's turnaround after being bowled out for a first innings score of 204 was charted by Dhananjaya de Silva. The middle order batter notched up a brilliant, unbeaten 155 and also strung together a record-breaking stand of 124 with Embuldeniya to shut the door on West Indies' chances of leveling the series. On Day 5, Embuldeniya was dislodged by Holder as Sri Lanka decided to declare their second innings at 345 for 9. Embuldeniya and Mendis then took one scalp each to put the West Indies in a spot of bother. The same two spinners finished the job in the second session.

Meanwhile, the West Indies would look back at the Test as an opportunity lost. At 180 for 3, in the first innings, the visitors seemed to hold all the aces but couldn't kick on and post a sizeable total.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 204 (Pathum Nissanka 73; Veerasammy Permaul 5-35) and 345/9 decl. (Dhananjaya de Silva 155*, Pathum Nissanka 66; V Permaul 3-100) beat West Indies 253 (Kraigg Brathwaite 72; Ramesh Mendis 6-70) and 132 (Nkrumah Bonner 44; Lasith Embuldeniya 5-35 Ramesh Mendis 5-66) by 164 runs.