Kemar Roach rampaged his way to his 300th Test wicket, Jayden Seales, Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph all bowled menacing spells, and West Indies blasted Sri Lanka out for 101, completing a behemoth innings-and-217-run victory.

Gaining significantly more movement in the air and off the surface than Sri Lanka’s quicks had, West Indies’ fast bowlers threatened to take wickets right through day four’s 27.2 overs. It was Roach that was getting the ball to hoop most, however, finding massive inswing into the right-hander, often late in the ball’s trajectory, to threaten the pads and stumps of the right-handers he bowled to, and the outside edges of the left-handers.

Roach’s 300th wicket was the ninth of Sri Lanka’s innings, Asitha Fernando’s stumps being clattered by a full one speared in from wide of the crease. He was mobbed by adoring team-mates who seemed to take even more delight in his milestone than him, and was later presented a West Indies Test shirt with the number 300 on it to commemorate the occasion. He is the first West Indies bowler since Curtly Ambrose to the milestone. Among fast bowlers, only Courtney Walsh, Ambrose, and Malcolm Marshall have more wickets for West Indies than him.

Sri Lanka were woeful with the bat, and played like a team fatigued from 160.5 overs in the field on days two and three. Dinesh Chandimal was the only batter who managed even some semblance of resistance, batting out 60 balls for his 43. No other batter in the top six managed a double figure score. Some were pinged in front by balls that jagged in. Others nicked off against deliveries that moved away. Two – Kamindu Mendis and Kusal Mendis – had the tops of their off stumps pinged after they had left the ball. West Indies bowled exquisite lines, and rarely bowled a bad ball. Even Sri Lanka’s exceedingly rare boundaries tended to come from full deliveries when the bowlers had gone looking for swing.

After Roach opened the day’s wicket-taking in the first over, swinging a ball into Nishan Madushka’s pads, Seales struck in his own first over, getting nightwatcher Kasun Rajitha to edge to the cordon. Soon after, Shamar Joseph struck twice, pinging Kamindu’s off stump as he shouldered arms, before pinging Dhananjaya de Silva’s front pad to catch him lbw. Late in the session, Alzarri got himself a wicket too, in similar fashion. Having got a ball to leave Kusal, he had the next one jag back into Kusal, who had also let the ball hit his off stump uninterrupted.

Sri Lanka went to lunch at 81 for 6 and it only took West Indies 6.1 further overs to remove the remaining batters. Roach struck twice in two overs to get to his 300th, and after some strong words exchanged with Lahiru Kumara and Sonal Dinusha, Seales took the final wicket to complete a stunning victory.

West Indies, essentially, have dominated this Test from start to finish. And they were so spectacularly dominant in days three and four, they crushed an opponent that had been expected to compete.

Scores:
West Indies 626 for 9 dec in 160.5 overs (Amir Jangoo 233, Roston Chase 194; Milan  Rathnayaka 5-124) beat Sri Lanka 308  in 71.5 overs (Dhananjaya De Silva 120, Dinesh Chandimal 54; Justin  Greaves 3-39) & 101 in 31.2 overs (Dinesh Chandimal 43; Kemar  Roach 4-51, Jayden Seales 3-14, Shamar Joseph 2-19)  by an innings and 217 runs

[Cricinfo]

Sri Lanka’s women flew home from Manchester yesterday reflecting on what might have been after a semi-final place slipped through their fingers by the narrowest of margins. Sri Lanka and West Indies both finished on six points with three wins apiece, but the Caribbean side progressed thanks to a superior net run rate.

Much of the soul searching centred on those fateful 90 minutes in Bristol. Having lost a crucial toss on a green top and been asked to bat first, Sri Lanka got their approach horribly wrong. Instead of weathering the new ball storm, they went on the offensive, losing their top three inside the first two overs and effectively conceding the contest. West Indies later struggled to chase down the modest target, suggesting that a more measured approach might have yielded a very different outcome. Hindsight, however, is always a wonderful thing.

One of Sri Lanka’s proudest achievements was knocking defending champions New Zealand out of the tournament. It was their first ever victory over the White Ferns in a Women’s T20 World Cup and one of the biggest upsets of the competition.

Missing out on a semi-final also meant missing out on a lucrative prize purse of USD 800,000, the equivalent of around USD 50,000 for each member of the squad.

While there were plenty of regrets, this was nevertheless Sri Lanka’s finest campaign at a Women’s World Cup. More importantly, by finishing among the top three in the group they secured automatic qualification for the 2028 Women’s T20 World Cup, which will be hosted by Pakistan.

Captain Chamari Atapattu led from the front, producing a memorable campaign highlighted by the first century by a Sri Lankan at a Women’s T20 World Cup. However, her fellow top-order batters Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama failed to make the expected impact, with Vishmi eventually losing her place for the final two matches.

Nilakshika de Silva was outstanding, producing match-winning knocks against New Zealand and Scotland while excelling in the field with some exceptional catching. On this occasion, she even outshone her captain, something that does not happen very often.

Among the emerging talents, two youngsters caught the eye. Fast bowler Mithali Ayodha impressed with her lively sling arm action and ability to generate pace, while Kaushani Nuthyangana was a bundle of energy behind the stumps, displaying sharp glovework and infectious enthusiasm throughout the tournament.

Rex Clementine in Manchester

Pakistan won the basement battle against Netherlands in a low-scoring game, with Gull Feroza’s half-century inspiring them to a 37-run win. In a low-scoring contest where momentum ebbed and flowed, Feroza held the first innings together to put on 126 for Pakistan, their joint-highest score this tournament.

Netherlands appeared on course initially with a bright start from Heather Siegers, but lost their way dramatically after she was dismissed as Pakistan squeezed them through spin. The last seven wickets fell for just 13 runs, with Fatima Sana returning to the attack to apply the coup de grace, knocking back the stumps three times in the final over to send Netherlands’ last three batters on their way as they folded for 89.

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat, recovering from an uninspiring start thanks to a 79-run second-wicket stand between Feroza and Ayesha Zafar. But the Netherlands hit back through Silver Siegers and Iris Zwilling, the latter arguably the pick of the Netherlands attack. They triggered a Pakistani collapse which saw them lose 5 wickets for 24 runs, including the early loss of Sana, who had promoted herself up to four, her highest T20I batting position. It pegged Pakistan back from what had looked like a score in excess of 140 to one Netherlands genuinely fancied chasing.

Heather Siegers breezy start meant it was the Netherlands who looked as if they might pip Pakistan, but there wasn’t much to back her up after Diana Baig sent her on her way. Pakistan’s spinners asphyxiated the Dutch, and as the asking rate ballooned, the Netherlands began to shrink away. It was, in the end, a tame capitulation from a Dutch side that promised so much more for the best part of this game.

Feroza stands tall

Trying to remain oblivious to the bedlam all around is among Pakistan cricket’s more challenging tasks, but Gull Feroza managed exactly that. With Pakistan managing only a sedate start and suffering the early loss of Muneeba Ali, Feroza put on a 79-run partnership with Ayesha Zafar. She was the more aggressive partner through that second-wicket stand, particularly after the halfway mark.

The attack was launched with a couple of nifty boundaries off Hannah Landheer in the tenth over, and another pair against Heather Siegers in the one that followed. Between the tenth and 14th overs, Pakistan enjoyed their best spell with the bat, smashing 36 in four. Though a collapse would soon follow, they had, thanks to Feroza, built up just about enough of a buffer to give their bowlers breathing space.

The review that almost wasn’t

Netherlands made an inspired start against South Africa on Thursday, and were aware anything close to that would virtually guarantee victory in pursuit of 127 today. Heather Siegers began threatening just that racing along to 24 in 15 with the side racking up 31 in the first 20 balls. But Diana Baig came back from being smashed for two boundaries off her first two balls strongly, in perhaps the most consequential moment of the match.

Siegers missed an attempted steer into the onside, and it hit her high on the pad. The umpire was quick to turn down Pakistan’s half-hearted appeal, but Sana reviewed at the last moment, and Hawk-Eye spat out three reds. Netherlands brightest spark was gone, and they never recovered that position of strength in the game again.

Pakistan’s spinners overrun Netherlands

Once Siegers departed, a thin layer of pressure appeared to descend on the Dutch, one they could never quite shrug off. The following over saw a hare-brained attempt at a single end up in a run-out thanks to a direct hit from Eyman Fatima. A Sana over aside, Pakistan turned almost exclusively to spin, rushing through their overs and watching the asking rate pile up. Nashra Sandhu was most effective at stifling the batters, maintaining a tight line that gave nothing away. She would end up registering figures of 3-0-8-1 through the middle, with the Netherlands managing just 23 in seven overs since Siegers’ dismissal.

Scores:
Pakistan Women 126 for 6 in 20 overs  (Muneeba Ali 12, Gull Feroza 63*, Ayesha Zafar 32; Iris Zwilling 2-19, Heather Siegers 1-28, Hannah Landheer 1-19, Caroline de Lange 1-24, Silve Seigers 1-17) beat Netherlands Women  89 all out in 18 overs (Babette de Leede 30, Steere Kalis 12; Fatima Sana 3-12, Diana Baig 1-11, Nashra Sandhu 1-08, Ayesha Zafar 3-13) by 37 runs

[Cricinfo]