West Indies, Sri Lanka set for rainy stalemate

KANDY, Sri Lanka, (Reuters) – The persistent rain   which has dogged the third and final test continued to thwart   Sri Lanka’s attempts to bowl West Indies out in their first   innings today as the match drifted towards a tame draw.
The first two tests of the three-match series were also   affected by bad weather before ending in draws and with only   one day remaining in the third, a similar stalemate appears to   be a formality.
Only nine minutes of play was possible in the afternoon   following a truncated morning session and with more rain   falling, the umpires halted proceedings at tea with West   Indies having added just 59 runs to their overnight total to   be 303-8.
Sulieman Benn was unbeaten on 29 and Kemar Roach on 12   after the hosts had taken three wickets in between the   downpours.
After the third day had been washed out completely, only   69 minutes play was possible in the morning session on   Saturday, allowing the West Indies to advance their total to   297-8.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath grabbed three wickets for   11 runs off 30 balls in that period to swing the balance   towards the home team before the interruption.
Herath got rid of Brendan Nash for 67, the batsman inside   edging a sweep to wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene, and then   trapped both Carlton Baugh (2) and skipper Darren Sammy (8)   lbw to head to lunch with figures of 4-54 off 22 overs.
Ajantha Mendis was the only other bowler used in the   rain-shortened session and kept one end tight by conceding 27   runs in 10 overs.
So far, only 103.3 overs out of a possible 360 have been   bowled on the first four days of the test.