West Indies captain Roston Chase, meanwhile, is hoping his side’s Test series success over Sri Lanka can be a starting point for sustained achievement instead of being a tempting one-off. Having won the opening Test handily and drew the second, the Caribbean side wrapped up their first series win at this level since 2023. This has been an encouraging start to a World Test Championship campaign.
Chase commended the batting unit for standing up throughout the series after the drawn second Test. The team had worked much on improving its batting after several previous matches when the bowlers had done most of the work, he explained. The batters had excellent answers to that, creating big partnerships and not just getting individual runs but building match-winning totals as a team, according to the captain.
In the first Test, West Indies put 626 for 9 dec. Amir Jangoo scored a brilliant double century, and Chase missed out on one himself by just six runs passing 194, to put Windies A solidly in charge. And their massive opening stand kept Sri Lanka on the back foot throughout. The visitors’ batsmen in the second Test rallied around Justin Greaves & Shai Hope for a game-saving partnership that paid dividends and wrapped up the series with a draw.
Besides, scoring big centuries was not the sole positive sign, Chase pointed out. He added the challenge for his team was to put together big innings and post defendable totals, something he felt showed genuine evolution in their Test cricket mentality. Lyons also praised the importance of beating Sri Lanka, who have imposed something of a hoodoo on the West Indies in bilateral Test series down the years.
That victory, said the captain, should lead to greater consistency ahead. Instead of just heralding one successful series, he wants the team to get used to winning and continue their evolution as a Test-playing nation. Chase also called the series personally gratifying as it was the first time he led a team and starred both at captaincy and batting.
West Indies plays Pakistan in a two-match Test series on home soil from later this month. Chase, however, feels that carrying the winning momentum from Sri Lanka will be important in helping boost their World Test Championship standings while preparing the team for bigger battles later.
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