Dimuth Karunaratne, Fernando play out draw for Sri Lanka vs Windies

NORTH SOUND: Sri Lanka batted out the last day to earn a draw against West Indies in the second and final Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium here on Friday. The first Test was also drawn.

West Indies started the day needing 10 wickets for victory but got two on a good batting surface as the visitors closed on 193/2.

Captain Dimuth Karunaratne made the top score of 75 off 176 balls with nine fours while Oshada Fernando was unbeaten on 66 off 119 balls with eight fours. The wickets for West Indies went to fast bowler Alzarri Joseph (1-33) and medium-pacer Kyle Mayers (1-5).

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite was the player-of-the-match for his scores of 126 and 85. During the match he batted for 810 minutes and faced 507 balls. Sri Lanka's experienced seamer Suranga Lakmal was named the player-of-the-series for his 11 wickets in the two matches.

Brathwaite said, "Obviously it was a good pitch. In both Test matches, the bowlers really worked hard and what I was pleased with is that none of the guys ever gave up. Even down to Alzarri's last spell, he was still giving an effort to get some short balls in so I'm very happy with the effort of the team."

He added: "And batting-wise, we continued to bat a number of overs -- 90-plus overs which is a positive for us. And yes, we would've liked to have won but I was very happy with the attitude and discipline that we had. The pitch was a good one throughout."

The two-Test series ended in a 0-0 draw.

Earlier in the tour, West Indies had won the T20 International series 2-1 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground and also took the One-Day International Series 3-0 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Brief scores: West Indies 354 & 280/4 drew with Sri Lanka 258 & 193/2 (D Karunaratne 75, O Fernando 66 not out). IANS

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