Chase confident series win over Sri Lanka will be ‘stepping stone’ for Windies

Result, Day 5: Sri Lanka 549 for 9 dec & 251 for 9 dec. (Chandimal 71, Kamindu 44, Alzarri 2-44) drew with West Indies 499 & 109 for 0 (Campbell 51*, King 51*)

Before the start of the series, the last West Indian captain to claim a Test series win over Sri Lanka was Brian Lara, 23 years ago. On Tuesday, Roston Chase’s men secured a draw that earned the Caribbean side a 1-0 series triumph, their first over the Asian team since then. 

Chase is not underestimating the result. “I'm very elated, [winning] against a team like Sri Lanka that we struggle to beat, even at home,” he began. “So to come here and to not just beat them but [to win] in a dominating kind of way, it's very pleasing.”

Chase himself was part of that dominance, scoring 194 to help his team to an innings and 217-run victory in the first Test. He starred alongside Amir Jangoo (233) in a record-breaking 401-run stand for the sixth-wicket. Their partnership went a long way in helping the West Indies to what proved to be a decisive win.

The result was the first positive one in nine attempts for Chase as captain, who had been averaging 13.8 with the bat since his appointment.

“It's a great feeling [but] I don't want to take too much credit for it because at the end of the day it's a team sport and I can't go out there and do it by myself,” he said simply. 

“I have been trying [to perform], but to go and actually lead from the front, it feels great. So I just want to congratulate the guys for helping me to achieve this as the leader of the team.”

While credit is being issued, there is definitely some reserved for Windies’ strong response to the visitors’ 549 for nine, declared in the just-concluded contest. They fought valiantly to trim Sri Lanka’s first innings advantage to 50 runs.

According to Chase, the batting was the primary focus leading up to the game. 

“It was mostly the bowling that was standing up for us in the majority of the games,” he started to explain. “So it's something that I put forward to the guys that we need to be able to at least give the bowlers something to work with.”

The hosts found different centurions in this second encounter with player of the series Justin Greaves (180) and Shai Hope (112) executing a rescue act by way of a 242-run partnership that took them from 144 for four. 

“They (batters) raised their hands tremendously in this series,” Chase beamed. “We had four hundreds. I mean, we've been scoring hundreds in the past games, but these are big hundreds. And not only that, we turned them into big totals as well.”

Windies’ 626 in the first Test was their first 600-plus total in 14 years, and they followed it up with 499. The all-rounder is especially pleased with the distribution of runs, which handed them a first series win in their last 11.

“It’s not just one guy getting a hundred, and we're probably just getting over 250, but for two guys to get hundreds in two innings, that says a lot,” he said.

Chase is predicting the result will be foundational, declaring, “I think this is a stepping stone for us going forward.”

The Barbadian is eyeing a win in their next home series when they take on Pakistan later this month. 

“The two series at home (Sri Lanka and Pakistan)—these are series that we are looking to dominate and to win. So I just want the guys to continue from this point. I think we need to have consistency.”

The West Indies stuck to a wide off-stump line to counter Sri Lanka’s hunt for quick runs at the start of Day 5. Despite claiming six wickets in the morning session, they conceded in excess of 5 runs per over as the lead stretched to 281 at Lunch with the score 231 for eight.

Sri Lanka batted three overs in the afternoon session before declaring on 251 for nine when their advantage crossed the magical 300-run mark.

The West Indies’ obvious contentment with the series lead was further demonstrated by the lack of urgency from openers John Campbell (51*) and Brandon King (51*).

Having been set 302 runs for victory in a minimum of 61 overs, they batted through the requisite 40 overs, on either side of fleeting rain interruptions, to the all-important handshake that signaled the draw with the score 109 for no loss.