West Indies were severely depleted owing to a contract dispute, which led to players like Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Corey Collymore refusing to play.

Thus, Sri Lanka went into the series as even more overwhelming favourites, their strong game at home and West Indies' poor form – with only one Test win in the last ten attempts.

And they confirmed their favourite status, winning both Tests in rather emphatic style, although their batting showed worrying weaknesses against West Indian bowlers who bowled with more heart than talent at times.

[1] A depleted West Indies put in a surprisingly good effort against a strong home side, and actually attained a first-innings lead at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground.

However, two wickets in three balls from Malinga just after lunch turned the game the way Sri Lanka wanted, as West Indies were 113 for 5 with captain Chanderpaul and debutant wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin at the crease.

Ramdin took care of both spinners and seamers in style, driving his way to 56 before dragging a delivery from Test debutant Gayan Wijekoon onto his own stumps, but he had lifted West Indies to a respectable 192 for 6.

Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene – all experienced Test batsmen – rolled over to Daren Powell and Jermaine Lawson, as Sri Lanka first went to 7 for 2 and then 47 for 4.

Thilan Samaraweera and Tillakaratne Dilshan staged a small recovery, with 11 and 32 respectively, but when Lawson and Omari Banks got the pair of them out, things were promising for West Indies, with Sri Lanka on the rack at 93 for 6.

Vaas' inswingers on the overcast third day claimed two more wickets lbw, Narsingh Deonarine and Dwayne Smith, and then Muttiah Muralitharan took care of Denesh Ramdin before the umpires judged the light was too poor to play in.

Only a 54-run partnership between skipper Chanderpaul (who ended stranded on a not-out 48) and Tino Best saved West Indies from a sub-100 score, but Muralitharan finished with six for 36 – still not as remarkable as Vaas' figures, which read 18 overs, 9 maidens, 15 conceded runs and 4 wickets.

That did not last long, though, as Deonarine spooned a return catch to Jayasuriya with the fifth ball of the second morning, and Vaas followed up with inswingers that deceived Denesh Ramdin who was lbw for 13 and Powell who inside-edged for 0.

The West Indians were shown up for what they were – run-of-the-mill domestic players who should never have played international cricket, bar possibly Chanderpaul who made 24, Deonarine who even had the cheek to smash Muralitharan for six before being deceived, bowled for 29, and Denesh Ramdin who scampered together 28.