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.
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