On a tense Sunday night at Kingston’s Sabina Park, the West Indies men’s cricket team claimed a landmark 2-1 three-match T20 International series win against Sri Lanka, pulling off their highest successful run chase at the ground to seal the result. The series had been set up as a perfect decider: the Caribbean side, known universally as the Men in Maroon, took the opening match, before a resurgent Sri Lanka side bounced back to claim victory in the second fixture, leaving everything to play for in the final encounter. After West Indies captain Shai Hope won the pre-match coin toss, he elected to put Sri Lanka in to bat first, a decision that would pay off by the end of the night. The Caribbean bowling attack made consistent breakthroughs throughout the Sri Lankan innings, with young fast bowler Shamar Joseph turning in a career-best performance, taking five wickets for just 33 runs to destabilize the opposition batting order. Despite the early collapses, late-order hitting from Dunith Wellalage, who struck a rapid 43 off only 28 balls, and Vanindu Hasaranga, who contributed 21 runs from 13 deliveries, helped Sri Lanka post a competitive total of 169 all out, setting a challenging target for the hosts. The West Indies’ run chase got off to a disastrous start, with captain Hope departing for a golden duck without adding a single run to the scoreboard. Shimron Hetmyer injected much-needed momentum into the innings with an aggressive 32, but his departure left the middle order needing to rebuild the chase. That rebuilding work was delivered brilliantly by Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford, who combined for an 81-run fifth-wicket stand – the highest fifth-wicket partnership in West Indies T20I history. When Powell fell with the target still out of reach, experienced all-rounder Jason Holder stepped up to finish the job. In the penultimate over of the innings, Holder smashed three monstrous sixes off the Sri Lankan bowling, finishing an unbeaten knock of 21 runs from just 5 deliveries to turn the tide firmly in the hosts’ favor. Rutherford anchored the innings with a polished half-century, ending on 54 not out, and guided the West Indies across the finish line with five wickets in hand and two full deliveries remaining. This win marks a much-needed turning point for the West Indies side: it is their first series victory in four attempts, and their first home T20I series win of 2025. Speaking after the final wicket fell, captain Hope summed up the significance of the result, noting that consistent success is built through small, repeated habits, and that “winning is a habit.”