On a slow, run-friendly pitch at North Sound in Antigua, a dogged, record-building innings from all-rounder Justin Greaves has positioned the West Indies men’s test cricket team on the brink of a milestone: their first test series victory in four years. With one full day of play remaining in the second and final match of the series, the home side holds all the momentum heading into the final session, thanks to Greaves’ 325-ball marathon that yielded 180 runs.
Resuming on Day 4 at 318-4, with Greaves already sitting on 85 overnight, the West Indies batters set about erasing the sizable first-innings deficit Sri Lanka had built after declaring at 549-9. The defining moment of the day came from a fifth-wicket stand that echoed one of the pair’s prior career-defining performances: Greaves and Shai Hope put together a 242-run partnership, dragging the West Indies from a precarious 144-4 to a comfortable 386-5. This collaboration mirrored the 196-run stand the two put together against New Zealand in December 2024, when Greaves hit an unbeaten 202 and Hope scored 140 to salvage a draw.
Hope, who missed the first test of the series after picking up a shoulder injury in pre-match training, went on to notch his third century in five test matches, finishing with 112 off 199 balls. His knock included 10 boundaries, and he confidently handled both Sri Lanka’s pace attack and spin spearhead Prabath Jayasuriya, using clever footwork to neutralize the spinner’s threat. He survived a dropped review early in the day, when Sri Lanka’s appeal for a caught behind off Milan Rathnayake was turned down by the on-field umpire, and the touring side opted not to challenge the call. His innings ended in bizarre fashion close to the lunch break: attempting to pad away a length ball from left-arm spinner Sonal Dinusha down the leg side, Hope stepped outside his crease and missed the ball. Though wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis fumbled the catch, the ball ricocheted off his gloves onto the stumps, and Hope was ruled stumped.
After Hope’s dismissal, Greaves continued to anchor the innings, shepherding the West Indies lower order to add 113 runs for the final five wickets. The right-handed batter eventually fell as the last man out, with the West Indies all out for 499, cutting Sri Lanka’s first-innings lead to just 50 runs. The innings marked Greaves’ third test century, and the second-highest score of his international test career, as he brought up his hundred off 201 balls on Antiguan soil.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers never let up pressure through the day, relying heavily on disciplined short-pitch bowling to restrict run flow. Pace bowler Asitha Fernando claimed his third career five-wicket test haul, finishing with figures of 5-130 off 40 overs, while Jayasuriya chipped in with 3-131.
By stumps on Day 4, Sri Lanka had navigated early wickets to reach 92-2 in their second innings. The touring side lost first-innings centurion Lahiru Udara for a four-ball duck and opener Nishan Fernando for 20, before Dinesh Chandimal (40 not out) and Kamindu Mendis (30 not out) put together an unbroken 60-run partnership to close out play. That result pushed Sri Lanka’s overall lead to 142 runs with one day of cricket remaining.
Through the final 22 overs of Day 4, Sri Lanka scored at a rate of more than four runs per over, a pace they will need to maintain if they hope to set a defendable total and force a victory on a pitch that is expected to deteriorate on the final day. Only 21 wickets have fallen across the first four days, with 1,140 total runs scored, making conditions heavily favorable to batters and the home side, which already holds a 1-0 series lead after winning the opening test by an innings and 217 runs.
A draw in the second test would be enough for the West Indies to claim their first World Test Championship series win since beating Bangladesh in the Caribbean in 2022, ending a four-year drought without a test series victory.