Friday 28th March, 2008 15 Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardena, right, cele- Muttiah Muralitharan,center, lifts a wicket celebrating the victory. brates with bowler Thilan Thushara the dismissal of West Indies batsman Denesh Ramdin. MissionMission AccomplishedAccomplished ot so long ago, the West Indies were thrashing all cricket playing Nnations and in the 1980s and 1990s, countries like Sri Lanka, who were minnows of the sport, were looking up to them. But years of hard work has helped Sri Lanka to become a real force in world cricket. Following their win in the West Indies on Wednesday, Sri Lanka has now won in another region with only India and Australia, the last frontiers, to be conquered. It was a thorough team effort by the Sri Lankans, with Sri Lanka's off-spin- the highlights being the emer- ner Muttiah gence of Malintha Warnapura, Muralitharan bowls the re-emergence of old fox during the second Chaminda Vaas, the consis- innings in the final tency of Mahela Jayawardene day. Murali picked and all that backed up by the up six wickets in mastery of Muttiah Muralitharan. the Test. Guyana for a longtime had been a Caribbean stronghold and all time greats of the sport such as Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai, Alvin Kalicharan and Lance Gibbs came from here. After what Layout by Chandana had been a tough series in Australia, the Sri Lankans bounced back to win in the Caribbean and ‘The Island’ salutes Mahela and the boys for accomplishing the mission in so fine a fashion. Mahela Jayawardena, right, and teammate Malinda Warnapura carry souvenir stumps walking back to the pavilion after winning the first Test. Sri Lanka's opening batsman Malinda Warnapura plays a shot during the second innings. Mahela Jayawardena, center, celebrates with Chaminda Sri Lanka's wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara, left, catches West Indies bats- Vaas, as teammate Thilann Samaraweera looks on. man Ryan Hinds for 10 runs during the hosts’ second innings. Fans of the Fans of the West Indies Sri Lanka's cricket cricket team team dis- cheer their play a mes- players leav- sage while ing the pitch watching after winning the last the first Test minutes of against the the first West Indies at the cricket Test Guyana match Sri Lanka's Thilan Thushara, second from right, is National against Sri congratulated by teammates after catching West Stadium. Lanka. Indies' batsman Devon Smith, unseen, for 10 runs. .