ON THE ATTACK. West Indies opener Sewnarine Chattergoon belting Chaminda Vaas over the top en route to 46 in St. Lucia last night. (Picture by Brooks LaTouche Photography.)

by HAYDN GILL in St Lucia

A LITTLE RAIN spoiled a potentially big party for West Indies and St Lucians here last night.

A packed house in an electrifying atmosphere at the Beausejour Stadium was in the middle of frenzied excitement under lights, when West Indies were making encouraging progress in chasing down a target of 258 to complete a first series whitewash against major opponents in 16 years.

Out of nowhere, a light shower came to abruptly stop the fun among an almost sell-crowd of 15 000 as West Indies were moving along at 81 for two in the 19th over in pursuit of 258 to complete a clean sweep of the Digicel One-Day International Series against Sri Lanka.

The initial shower at 8:03 p.m. was light and lasted no more than ten minutes, prompting hopes of no more than a half-hour delay.

The four umpires, however, made three inspections in a matter of minutes and when ICC match referee Chris Broad accompanied them on the last occasion, it was obvious the outfield was far worse than it looked from a distance.

Just before 8:50 p.m., the stumps were put back in position and the umpires were scheduled to have another look at 9:15 p.m.

Before they could do so, more light rain returned. Yet again the covers were pulled off but yet again at 9:09 p.m., it was much of the same story.

With time ticking away against the background the rescheduled finishing time of 10:15 p.m. was fast approaching, some of the fans filed out of the ground in disappointment.

As the playing conditions state that a minimum of 20 overs per side constitute a match, only a further ten balls were needed to have a winner.

Based on Duckworth/Lewis calculations, West Indies would have had to be 97 for two from 20 overs to be declared winners.

With the drizzle lingering on, the match was officially abandoned just after 9:30 p.m.

West Indies' chase
for their target was given a boost by an exciting
46 off 53 balls by left-handed opener Sewnarine Chattergoon, but his dismissal in the 16th over with the total on 77 led
to a slight check
in the scoring rate.

It did not matter in the end.

Earlier, not for the first time this season, Sri Lanka were able to climb out of a hole to put something challenging on the tins.

West Indies allowed the early advantage of 44 for three in the 12th over to get away from them slowly, before there was a big flurry at the end when the last ten overs produced 82.

Daren Powell celebrated his 30th birthday with a wicket from the first ball that claimed make-shift opener Kumar Sangakkara and he also bagged another, but his most brilliant act was in the field when he splendidly hauled in a one-handed catch on the second attempt at short fine-leg.

After the early success, West Indies could not maintain the pressure and Sri Lanka used contrasting half-centuries from Mahela Udawatte and Tillakaratne Dilshan to attain their highest total of the series.

While Udawatte was workmanlike in compiling 73 off 122 balls, Dilshan provided a timely impetus for his 64 off 54 balls that included bold strokes and touches

of improvisation.

There were also useful contribution of 40 off 52 balls from Chamara Kapugedera who was the one that helped Udawatte rebuild the innings in a fourth-wicket partnership of 84 in 18 overs.

An even more important partnership followed between Dilshan and Kaushalya Weeraratne, the pair adding 79 off 56 balls at a time when a lot went wrong for West Indies.

The most significant was a groin strain sustained by captain Chris Gayle in the 43rd over when he was full stretch in throwing the ball in attempting to complete a run out from extra-cover.

Gayle fell to the turf in immediate discomfort and had to leave the field. He did not bat and there will be obvious concern about his availability for the lucrative Indian Premier League that starts on Friday.