Only four overs were possible after lunch on Day 3 of the first Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Galle due to relentless rain. West Indies reached 224/9 from their overnight 113/6. They are still 162 runs behind Sri Lanka's 386 in the first innings.
Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers played aggressively from the onset. They added 63 for the seventh wicket before Mayers (45) holed out to Dimuth Karunaratne off Dhananjaya de Silva (1-11). Three overs later, Holder fell to Praveen Jayawickrama (3-38), as West Indies slipped to 175/8.
Rahkeem Cornwall and Joshua Da Silva offered resistance, adding 49 for the ninth wicket to save West Indies from follow-on. In the last ball of the 80th over, Suranga Lakmal dismissed Cornwall (39), which eventually turned out to be the final ball of the day.
The Sri Lankan bowlers looked lacklustre in the first session. Ramesh Mendis, who picked up three wickets on Day 2, conceded 52 in 11 overs without any success. With weather interruptions expected in the final six sessions, the contest might go down to the wire.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 386 (Dimuth Karunaratne 147; Roston Chase 5-83) lead West Indies 224/9 (Kyle Mayers 45; Praveen Jayawickrama 3-38) by 162 runs.Th