Sri Lanka target their maiden Test series win in West Indies
ICC World Test Championship
Sri Lanka's all-format tour to West Indies which started on June 3rd is currently all-square before the start of the last leg which features two Test matches. The tour began with a three-match ODI series in Kingston, Jamaica where the visitors won the first game but the next two matches were washed out giving the Lankan Lions a 1-0 series win. The T20I series was organized on the same ground which the hosts sealed 2-1 in a close battle. The action now moves to Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua which will host both Tests starting with the first one on Friday.
Sri Lanka has never won a Test series in West Indies. Dhananjaya De Silva will lead the visitors who last played a Test match one year ago against Bangladesh at home. This will be their second series of the current World Test Championship where they are placed at the third spot, tied with New Zealand after one win and a draw in the 2 matches they have played until now. The hosts on the other hand are enduring the worst ever campaign in the WTC history. The West Indies Cricket Board appointed Roston Chase as their red-ball captain before the start of this cycle under whom this team has lost 7 and drawn 1 out of 8 games they have been a part of. With only 4 points in eight games, West Indies will be looking to turn their fortunes around in home conditions with this two-match series followed another one versus Pakistan next month.
West Indies welcome Josephs in the comfort of home
Following the absence of Shamar and Alzarri Joseph from the previous two away tours of India and New Zealand, West Indies will recall both of them in the Test squad for this two-match series against the Lankan Lions. Alzarri was sidelined due to a lower back injury and recently made his return in the ODI leg of this tour whereas Shamar suffered a shoulder discomfort although he has been part of the International cricket after the start of 2026 including the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. Their preceding Test match came versus Australia last year at Kingston. Shamar also participated in the First Class competition this year.
The West Indies side has enjoyed a resurgence of pace bowlers in the past few years. Their records are very impressive in the Test format especially at home. Since Joseph's debut in Jan 2024, West Indies have the best bowling average of 23.13 at home among all full-member nations but the inversely proportional is true for their batters who have averaged 18.5 with the bat, the worst at home in the same time frame clearly highlighting the issues this team has faced in the longest format. Shamar Joseph has been a significant contributor to these numbers, taking 51 wickets in 11 Tests at a bowling average of 21.66. Since his debut, Shamar has the third best Strike Rate in Test cricket after Noman Ali and Matt Henry.
Alzarri Joseph has not exactly enjoyed an effective career as a red-ball bowler averaging more than 33 in 40 Test matches but his recent returns have definitely improved. Being part of the quartet with Jayden Seales, Kemar Roach and Shamar, Alzarri's role is a difficult one, coming in as a first or second change bowler and trying to bounce out batters or continue the impact create by the new ball bowlers. West Indies bowlers struggled as compared to their counterparts in the last five matches they played on the tours to India and New Zealand in absence of both Shamar and Alzarri.
Jayden Seales who has led the attack on home soil with outstanding figures was the mainstay on both these tours but his away record has left a lot to be desired. Seales averages 20.19 at home versus 42.66 away. The Caribbean bowlers struggled massively in India picking only 13 wickets in two games as their spinners Jomel Warrican, Khary Pierre and Roston Chase averaged over 63. On the tour to New Zealand, there were high hopes from the 37-year old Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales in an attack featuring Anderson Philip and newcomers Ojay Shields, Johann Layne. While Roach delivered a five-wicket haul in the very first game and ended the series with most wickets for the Windies, Seales had another poor away series. His lack of incisiveness created more pressure on others as he averaged over 56 with 6 wickets in three games. Their bowling returns started to fade in the final two games as they lost both Tests and the series 2-0.
West Indies' next two series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan are both at home adding confidence to the bowling contingent containing the quartet of Roach, Seales, Shamar and Alzarri plus Anderson Phillip and the all-round pace of Justin Greaves. Warrican and captain Chase are the spinners but their requirement might be nominal.
Dhananjaya aims to go where no other Lankan captain has
It is a known fact that Sri Lanka has never won a Test series in West Indies, a record which dates back after their debut series twenty nine years ago. They have played five series in West Indies losing the first two in 1997 and 2003 but following their maiden win in 2007, Sri Lanka have managed to draw the past three series. The Lankan Lions still hold a much superior head-to head record of 11-4 agin the Windies in the longest format with 9 draws thanks to their performance at home where the Caribbean boys have never won a single Test match.
Dhananjaya De Silva took over from Dimuth Karunaratne as captain in January 2024. Since then he has led Sri Lanka to a series win versus Bangladesh, both home & away, New Zealand at home and won a Test against England at The Oval but lost the series 2-1. They also lost to South Africa away and a disappointing scoreline of 2-0 to Australia at home in early 2025. Sri Lanka's preceding Test series came versus Bangladesh exactly one year ago which was ironically the last series for Angelo Mathews, their iconic all-rounder who played 119 Test matches for Sri Lanka. DDS has a win-loss record of 7-6 in 14 matches. He has played 4 Tests in West Indies and averages only 20.28 with 1 fifty-plus score and taken only 1 wicket.
Mahela Jayawardene and Suranga Lakmal are the only two captains who have registered a Test match win in West Indies. De Silva has a modest record with both bat and ball as a captain but he will have to lead from the front in order to inspire his team to a record win in the next two matches. The selectors have named a 17-men squad for this series with a decent balance of youth and experience including ample fast bowlers and spin-bowling all-rounders. Pathum Nissanka and Lahiru Udara will open followed by the experienced Dinesh Chandimal, captain Silva, Kamindu Mendis and wicket-keeper Kusal Mendis.
Sonal Dinusha should be preferred over Ramesh Mendis in the first Test due to his superior batting record. With three finger-spin options, it is hard to see Prabhat Jayasuriya making playing XI given the pitches favor fast-bowling in West Indies. Milan Rathnayaka might start thanks to his amazing all-round performance in England. Vishwa Fernando's left-arm angle, Asitha Fernando hit-the-deck ability and the pace of Lahiru Kumara makes them the frontliners. The other two options are 32-year old Kasun Rajitha and the exciting uncapped 29-year old Isitha Wijesundara who has impressed everyone in the Sri Lanka A fixtures.
Windies batters aim for prolonged period of consistency
We have already discussed multiple times how poor the West Indies batters have been throughout the World Test Championship history. They have been the worst batting side in terms of overall average as well as both home and away. Their batters have also conjured up the lowest number of three-figures scores in the World Test Championship history so far and the returns have reflected in their results as well. West Indies finished second from bottom in the first two cycles, last in 2023-25 and are lying at the end of the table again with 7 losses and 1 draw in 8 games so far.
However, in their recent games a conscious effort has been made to improve by the whole line-up as different batters have put their hand up in different matches. Opener John Campbell and Shai Hope put up a brave fight in second innings of the Delhi Test as they led West Indies into lead after being asked to follow-on. Campbell's 115 was supported by Hope's 102 as Justin Greaves was left stranded on 50*.
The breakthrough came in the next match at Christchurch. Tagenarine Chanderpaul, son of the great Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Shai Hope stuck sturdy fifties but the other batters collapsed quickly. New Zealand put up a mammoth target of 531 in the last innings. The team lost four wickets quickly as Shai Hope again came to the rescue with Justin Greaves. They put up a massive rearguard effort scoring 196 runs in close to 64 overs when Hope fell for 140. But Greaves was not ready to give up just yet. Once Trevor Imlach followed Hope back in the pavilion, their senior most pro Kemar Roach joined hands in the middle. Together they both batted for more than 68 overs taking the team's score to a historic 457-6 and forcing a draw against all odds. Kemar Roach who scored his maiden fifty ended up with 58* off 233 balls but it was Greaves who stole the spotlight with a maiden Test double proving his credentials to the whole world. Kavem Hodge who scored his maiden ton in England added another three-figure score in the last Test at Mount Maunganui and even though they lost the series 2-0, these recent accomplishment provides a ray of hope to the fans.
Their batting wears a similar look again for this series. Openers Chanderpaul and Campbell will again join hands as Brandon King remains on the bench. Kavem Hodge, Shai Hope and the returning Joshua Da Silva who was excellent in the West Indies Championship for the past two years should occupy the middle order batting. Amir Jangoo, another bright prospect who finished second to Da Silva this year in the domestic cup replaces Trevor Imlach. Captain Chase, the only player in the line-up who has struggled for any sort of fluency in red-ball cricket and Justin Greaves will play the role of spin and pace-bowling all-rounders followed by the bowlers. One out of Hope or Da Silva should take the gloves with Jangoo starting on the bench.
The problem of so few for Sri Lanka
The Asian side has played the second lowest games in the World Test Championship along with Bangladesh with 39 and 35 respectively so far. These two sides have played only two-Test series in the whole WTC so far with Sri Lanka's three-match series in England two years ago being the only exception. Bangladesh have managed to arrange a few fixtures agin the likes of Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe which has increased the number to 44 same as Sri Lanka since 1st April 2019. For comparison, England have played 86 Tests, almost double in the same period. The Big Three(England, India and Australia) have enjoyed the lion's share of longest format for a long time but other teams have competed for bare minimum due to financial constraints and lack of audience for the five-day format other than The Big Three.
Many Sri Lankan players have raised the same issue in the past. The problem lies in the scheduling organized by the cricket boards themselves without the intervention of ICC which means teams like Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh do not get enough game time in the FTPs. Often we see Sri Lanka not playing any Test cricket for almost a year which robs the red-ball specialists of any real consistency. And the spin-friendly conditions in the sub-continent also limits the participation of fast bowlers for Sri Lanka. To highlight the same point, the last Sri Lankan fast bowler who played 50+ test was Suranga Lakmal who ended up with 70 Test matches in 12 years. By contrast James Anderson and Stuart Broad played 117 and 120 matches in the same time span. Angelo Mathews with 84 played the highest from Sri Lanka. Among active bowlers, Lahiru Kumara has played 34, Vishwa Fernando 28 since their debut in 2016. Asitha Fernando has been part of 28 in the previous five years.
Sri Lanka's preceding Test match was with Bangladesh in June 2025. In the same stretch they have played 13 ODIs and 32 T20Is but remain the only full-member nation to not play a Test match. This shortage of regular game time in the longest format has forced retirements of players like Dimuth Karunaratne, Suranga Lakmal and Angelo Mathews. With ICC planning to introduce one-off Tests as part of the World Test Championship to include Zimbabwe, Ireland & Afghanistan in the next cycle, some rumors are floating that the richer boards might adopt the same model against teams like Sri Lanka too, inviting heavy criticism from their ex-players. In case the same plan gets approved, we might be seeing more players retiring without fulfilling their potential to maximize the twilight of their playing careers. The Cricket Boards should pay attention to these issues and try to push for more red-ball cricket in order to secure the future of the longest format.
To Sri Lanka's credit, they have performed much better than some other teams in the World Test Championship until now with limited playing chances. They finished at seventh position in the first cycle but followed it up with stronger display in the next two. During the 2021-2023 WTC, they were in great position to make the final until a 2-0 away loss to New Zealand in their last series. Similarly a four-match losing streak late in the next edition burst the bubble for the sub-continent team eventually completing the cycle in sixth position. With one win and one draw in the current cycle, it will be interesting to see if this team can compete for the top two positions this time as Dhananjaya De Silva aims to leave a huge mark under his captaincy tenure.
What does Antigua have in store?
When Sri Lanka visited West Indies the last time in 2021, both the matches were organized on the same ground. The series ended with a 0-0 result as both the games were drawn. Captain De Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Chandimal and Vishwa Fernando featured in the series for Sri Lanka and the same holds true for John Campbell, Joshua Da Silva, Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach. Nissanka will have sweet memories from that tour where he scored a century and a fifty-plus score in 2 matches albiet in the middle order. The pitches in the Caribbean have changed since and become more result-friendly but Antigua is one place which still offers a balance between bat and ball.
Antigua has generally been a bowling first ground although the team opting to bowl has won only 3 out of 9 Tests as compared to 1 in 4 when choosing to bat. West Indies have won 5 and lost 2 out of the 13 Tests played at this venue. The top two run-scorers for West Indies at this venue Kraigg Brathwaite and Jason Holder are not part of this team anymore. Kemar Roach leads the wicket-charts with 54 wickets @ 17.07 followed by Holder with 25. Alzarri Joseph loves to play at this ground taking 24 wickets @ 24.95 in 6 matches. Sri Lanka played a 4-day warm-up match against West Indies Select XI at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua but faltered badly in the fourth innings after gaining a 76 run lead in the first innings to get all out at 108, 16 runs short of the target.
The pitch is expected to carry a tinge of green which will favor the bowlers at the start and get better as the game goes on. Pacers have enjoyed the lion's share of wickets falling on this ground with the numbers reading 286 out of 370 in totality. In the past five years, it stands at 129 out of 156 averaging 27.13 with the ball. There are intermittent rains expected on the third and fifth day. Both teams are expected to line-up with four pacers in their squad and it will be interesting to see if left-arm spinners Jomel Warrican and Prabhat Jayasuriya get selected given the plethora of spin-bowling all-rounders in their middle order.
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