So nice they had to do it twice. Ireland have swept the T20 World Champions 2-0. That meant India’s unbeaten run which spanned 16 series and nearly three years has been irrevocably broken. The stars of this supreme result were Harry Tector, who scored a determined half-century to help put 154 on the board, and Jai Mondra, who picked up three wickets in the blink of an eye.

Tector, playing his 100th T20I, was brought to the crease in the second over. His first runs were off the inside edge. The rest were both timely and thought out. He held the innings together for Ireland and in doing so highlighted just why he is a valued member of this side. Tector absorbed the pressure at one end, willing to countenance risk only when the odds were in his favour, like when Suryansh Shedge, in the middle of leaking 22 runs in a over bowled a free hit ball that was full toss. That went for six. Ben Calitz, at the other end, was a little more willing to go for his shots. Their 65-run partnership, off 44 balls, formed the backbone of a total of 154. At that point, Cricinfo’s forecaster only gave Ireland an 18% chance of victory.

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