West Indies hit by drainage problems in Matara

The West Indies preparations for the first Test against Sri Lanka next week were disrupted once again on the last day of their final practice match at Matara on Saturday.

This time, though, it wasn't directly the fault of the weather, but bizarrely by a blocked drain that left a sizeable section of section completely submerged by water, following steady rains overnight.

By the time the offending drain have been dug up and the water hog had sucked off all the surface water, there was only time for a single session of play.

During the 35 overs possible before bad light stopped play, the West Indians, starting the day on 134-0, progressed smoothly to 241 for two, as Chris Gayle (120) duly reached his century and Daren Ganga (54) completed a painstaking four-hour half century.

Having added 24 runs to his overnight score (96 not out), Gayle gave up his wicket to allow Ramnaresh Sarwan, who had scored just seven in Colombo and has been given the responsibility of batting number three in Sri Lanka, a precious chance to bat in the middle.

Sarwan made good use of his opportunity to acclimitise and batted for nearly two hours, scoring 39 runs and hitting four boundaries before bad light stopped play.

Ganga continued his dour defiance of the previous day and contributed just 37 runs to his 173 opening partnership with Gayle before he nicked a delivery from fast bowler Dinusha Fernando and was caught behind. It was a solid innings, but not a wholly convincing one. He was caught off a no ball on 33, whilst trying to pull, and again at second slip having made 37.

With the sun setting and the game long shorn of any spice, Brian Lara turned down the opportunity of middle practice after the fall of Ganga. Jacobs came into bat and was seven not out at the end.

Both West Indies warm-up games have been disrupted. In Colombo only a single day of play was possible in the opening three-day match and here, in Matara, 93 overs have been lost.

Coach Roger Harper, who had spent of the day inspecting the sodden outfield, admitted that the frequent interruptions have hampered the team's preparations, but was satisfied with the outcome with what play there was.

"It's not been ideal preparation for the Test series," he said. "There is no substitute for competitive match practice.

"Now is not the time to be worried about being under prepared," he warned. "We have only had two and a half days practice, but that is the state we are in. We now have two days for nets and will make the most of it, to get ourselves as ready as we can be.

"Quite a few of batsmen have spent time at the crease - Chris Gayle and Carl (Hooper) have scored hundreds, Ganga scored a fifty, Sarwan spent a couple of hours in the middle here and both Brian (Lara) and Samuels had a run in the first game - so although we haven't played as much cricket as we would have liked, we are happy with what transpired in the short time we had.

"The bowlers also had a good run out here and they acquitted themselves pretty well in intense heat and humidity and on a pretty good batting pitch."

West Indies now travel to Galle and weather permitting they will practice again on Sunday and Monday, before the first Test on Tuesday.