Rain slows West Indies advance
Rain before lunch and after tea again slowed West Indies' efforts to square the three-Test series against Sri Lanka on the third day of the second cricket Test yesterday
Tony Cozier
23-Nov-2001
Rain before lunch and after tea again slowed West Indies'
efforts to square the three-Test series against Sri Lanka on
the third day of the second cricket Test yesterday.
West Indies were 39 for one, in reply to Sri Lanka's first
innings total of 288, after heavy overnight rain saturated
the Asgiriya Stadium outfield and forced a delayed start by
three-and-a-half hours.
West Indies needed a little under four overs to draw the
curtains on the Sri Lanka first innings after the host
resumed from their overnight position of 273 for eight.
Pedro Collins broke through the overnight pair when he
bowled Nuwan Zoysa for 23 in the third over of the day,
ending a ninth-wicket stand of 32 with Niroshan
Bandaratillake. He ended with four wickets for 84 runs.
Mervyn Dillon had Muttiah Muralitharan caught at mid-off for
four to bring the innings to a close and give the West
Indies fast bowler his third wicket.
Zoysa then condemned Daren Ganga to a first-ball duck when
he had the West Indies opening batsman caught at third slip
with his first ball on return to Test cricket.
Chris Gayle, with four fours in an undefeated 25, and
Ramnaresh Sarwan, unbeaten on 12, carried West Indies
through to the rain-induced close with little or no alarms.
Sri Lanka lead the series 1-0 after their ten-wicket win in
the opening Test at Galle.