Sri Lanka and the West Indies played safe cricket and decided the best result was a draw on the final day of the second and final cricket Test in Antigua on Friday to end the series 0-0.
The West Indies tried everything as they used up nine bowlers to no avail while Sri Lanka reached 193 for 2 consuming 79 overs after resuming from an overnight 29 for no loss in pursuit of a 377 target.
The home team perhaps would have had an outside chance of making inroads into the Sri Lanka batting which was blown up when wicket-keeper Joshua Da Silva dropped a catch down the leg-side offered by opener Lahiru Thirimanne who was on 17 and went on to make 39 and share in a 101-run stand for the first wicket with Dimuth Karunaratne.
The unfortunate bowler was paceman Shannon Gabriel.
After the jolt the pair of Thirimanne and Karunaratne settled in to avert a collapse as the West Indies bowlers struggled on what appeared to be a flat batting track.
Karunaratne went on to make 75, his first half century in the series off 176 balls with nine fours, before he was trapped leg-before to part time bowler Kyle Mayers.
With Sri Lanka placed at 146 for 2 and more than 40 overs of the day’s quota still remaining, any hopes the West Indies had of wrapping up the innings was thwarted by the experienced Dinesh Chandimal and Oshada Fernando who defied the bowlers for 23.1 overs before both teams decided to call it off with no result in sight.
Unlike his senior partner, Fernando played some shots while the match was drifting towards a draw as he struck eight fours in his unbeaten innings of 66 made off 119 balls.
Chandimal produced a wall-like defence to make just 10 runs in 66 balls that ensured Sri Lanka draw the match and the series without a result 0-0 after losing the T20 series 2-1 and the ODI series 3-0.
West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwait was declared man of the match for his contributions of 126 and 85 with the bat while Suranga Lakmal was adjudged player of the series for a tally of 11 wickets.
Scores:
West Indies: 354
(Kraigg Brathwaite 126, R Cornwall 73, Suranga Lakmal 4 for 94, Dushmantha Chameera 3 for 69) and 280 for 4 declared (Kraigg Brathwaite 85, Jason Holder 71 n.o., Kyle Mayers 55, Suranga Lakmal 2 for 62, Dushmantha Chameera 2 for 74)
Sri Lanka: 258
(Lahiru Thirimanne 55, Dinesh Chandimal 44, Pathum Nissanka Silva 51, Kemar Roach 3 for 58) and 193 for 2 at stumps (D. Karunaratne 75, Oshada Fernando 66 n.o.)