Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara, right, shakes hands with West Indies counterpart Darren Sammy after their third Test was abandoned due to rain in Pallekele on Sunday, Dec. 5. The three-match series hampered by rain was drawn 0-0. (AP Photo/ Eranga Jayawardena)The three-match Test series between Sri Lanka and West Indies ended in a 0-0 draw with the final day’s play of the third Test here at the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy being washed off without a ball being bowled yesterday.
Prior to the series, Kumar Sangakkara’s side was expected to cruise past the tourists, but bad weather and a brilliant batting display in the first Test in Galle by Chris Gayle helped the tourists achieve their best result on Sri Lankan soil so far.
After the series ended in a draw, there was more bad news for the Sri Lankans as they were relegated to the fifth position of the ICC Test Rankings. Sri Lanka were placed at number three prior to the series, but their inability to win at least a single Test Match has resulted in them being placed behind England and Australia. Sri Lanka currently have 109 rating points, one below Australia, who have 110 and three below England who have 112.
West Indies, who were ranked at number seven prior to the series, remain in that position, but they are closing the gap on the sixth placed Pakistan with only three rating points now separating the two teams.
Throughout the third Test, just 103.3 overs were possible as the third and fifth day’s play were abandoned without a ball being bowled. Persistent drizzles throughout Sunday confined the players to the team hotel in the morning and the match was abandoned after lunch with no possibility of further play.
A total of 694 overs were lost in the entire Test series, the worst affected by rain in Sri Lanka. Effectively a total of more than seven days play was lost due to rain and bad light.
Not even a single innings was completed in the third Test and it’s only the third instance where a game has ended in Sri Lanka without an innings being completed. Previously the first Test between Sri Lanka and India in 1993 saw just 12 overs being bowled while in 2000, when Sri Lanka hosted Pakistan, only 156 overs were possible. Both matches were played at the Asgiriya International Stadium in Kandy.
West Indies had reached 303 for eight from the little play possible after having being put into bat first.
The series result was West Indies’ best on Sri Lankan soil after they were whitewashed in both the previous series in Sri Lanka. In 2001, under the captaincy of Carl Hooper, the tourists lost 3-0 while in 2005, under Shivnarine Chanderpaul, they were beaten 2-0 in a two-match series.
Their inaugural visit to Sri Lanka was in 1993 for a one off Test and the game was drawn after being hit by rain.
Sri Lanka Cricket’s efforts to give match practice to the national team at two World Cup venues, R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and at Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy proved to be futile as a good part of both Tests were rained off.
Both teams left for Hambantota yesterday where the first two One-Day Internationals of a five-match series will be played. West Indies’ ODI specialists will join the team at Hambantota today after arriving in Colombo yesterday.
Courtesy - The Island - Rex Clementine reporting from Pallekele
