West Indies end a 23-year wait with a series win over Sri Lanka
Roston Chase’s side needed only a draw in Antigua to seal a 1-0 win over Sri Lanka, ending a 23-year wait for a Test series victory against them.
Jul 8, 2026
West Indies have not had many Test days to celebrate in recent years. In Antigua, they finally got one. A rain-affected draw against Sri Lanka in the second Test was enough to hand Roston Chase’s side a 1-0 series win, and with it their first Test series triumph over Sri Lanka since 2003.
The result at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound closed a 23-year wait against this particular opponent, and it doubled as West Indies’ first Test series win of any kind in three years. Their last had come in 2023. For a side that has spent most of the years in between on the wrong end of results, the Sobers-Tissera Trophy was a rare and welcome sight in the captain’s hands.
Greaves the difference again
If one player defined the series, it was Justin Greaves. The all-rounder was named Player of the Match in the second Test and Player of the Series overall, the latter built on a first-innings 180 that steadied West Indies after Sri Lanka had piled up a huge total.
Sri Lanka batted first and declared on 549 for 9, with Lahiru Udara making 188 at the top of the order. West Indies answered with 499, Greaves’ 180 the centrepiece and Shai Hope adding 112. That reply, only 50 runs adrift, took the sting out of Sri Lanka’s total and set up a final day the hosts were never likely to lose from a position of safety.
A final day the openers saw out
Sri Lanka pushed for a result on the last morning. Dinesh Chandimal’s 71 helped them to 251 for 9 declared, three overs after lunch, leaving West Indies a notional 302 to chase in 61 overs. The hosts had no interest in the gamble. John Campbell and Brandon King dug in, and with showers breaking up the day, the openers batted through to 109 without loss. Both finished unbeaten on 51 before the captains shook hands.
It was not the thrilling finish neutrals might have wanted, but West Indies will not care. The platform had been laid in the first Test, where they crushed Sri Lanka by an innings and 217 runs to take the lead they never surrendered.
What it means for a rebuilding side
Context matters here. West Indies have been rebuilding across formats, and a home Test series win over a side that has spent much of the last decade ranked above them is a genuine marker of progress, not a one-off. Chase, still relatively new to the captaincy, now has a series victory to point to as evidence that the group is heading somewhere.
Sri Lanka, for their part, will rue the first Test. Udara’s 188 and a mountainous first-innings total in the second match showed they had the batting to compete, but the innings defeat in the opener left them chasing the series from the moment it began. The tourists move on with plenty to work on before their next assignment.