da wazamba： Rain before lunch and after tea again slowed West Indies’efforts to square the three-Test series against Sri Lanka onthe third day of the second cricket Test yesterday
Tony Cozier23-Nov-2001Rain before lunch and after tea again slowed West Indies’efforts to square the three-Test series against Sri Lanka onthe third day of the second cricket Test yesterday.West Indies were 39 for one, in reply to Sri Lanka’s firstinnings total of 288, after heavy overnight rain saturatedthe Asgiriya Stadium outfield and forced a delayed start bythree-and-a-half hours.West Indies needed a little under four overs to draw thecurtains on the Sri Lanka first innings after the hostresumed from their overnight position of 273 for eight.Pedro Collins broke through the overnight pair when hebowled Nuwan Zoysa for 23 in the third over of the day,ending a ninth-wicket stand of 32 with NiroshanBandaratillake. He ended with four wickets for 84 runs.Mervyn Dillon had Muttiah Muralitharan caught at mid-off forfour to bring the innings to a close and give the WestIndies fast bowler his third wicket.Zoysa then condemned Daren Ganga to a first-ball duck whenhe had the West Indies opening batsman caught at third slipwith his first ball on return to Test cricket.Chris Gayle, with four fours in an undefeated 25, andRamnaresh Sarwan, unbeaten on 12, carried West Indiesthrough to the rain-induced close with little or no alarms.Sri Lanka lead the series 1-0 after their ten-wicket win inthe opening Test at Galle.