The rain held sway for yet another day at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. Only ninety minutes of play was possible on day four, in which time the West Indians added 59 runs and lost three wickets.

Umpire Asad Rauf keeping a close tab on the gray clouds hovering over the Pallekele stadium.

A lot depended on Brendon Nash who had batted so well on day two. But his wicket was thrown away needlessly. Baugh heaved in ungainly fashion while the skipper missed a straight one. When play resumed after a blank third day, Sangakkara opted to rely on the spin of Mendis and Herath. Mendis passed the bat many a time but a wicket eluded him. Herath teased with his line and flight and the fallible West Indians succumbed. Nash, Baugh and Sammy fell within the space of twenty two runs. Benn struck a defiant note by lofting Mendis and Herath for sixes wide of long on.

Play was called off after 80 minutes and in that time the West Indians had added 53 runs to their overnight score of 244-5. In the process, they had lost three batsmen. Play restarted at 12.40 and stopped in ten minutes. The new ball was taken in the hundredth over and promptly entrusted to spinners Mendis and Herath. If Sangakkara was hoping for extra bounce from the harder ball, there seemed to be none.

Rangana Herath was quite a handful to the West Indians late order. He picked up the wickets while spin partner Mendis kept one end shut tight. Today’s crowd was possibly the best of the match. It is a pity that the Kandy crowd, a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic one at that- has almost been deprived of the opportunity of seeing the Sri Lankan batting stars.

If all goes well, play will start at 9.45 today. But as for this test and this series, both are best forgotten.