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by Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from Matara

MATARA, Friday Jamaican left-hander Chris Gayle was on his way to becoming the first centurion on the tour for West Indies when rain cut short his exciting innings and brought a premature end to the second day's play of the three-day tour match against Sri Lanka 'A' at the Uyanwatte Stadium here today.

West Indies replying to the Sri Lanka 'A' first innings of 269, were 134 without loss at that stage with Gayle having sped to 96 off 92 balls with the aid of 17 crunching fours, many of them hit with tremendous power and perfect timing. Darren Ganga his right-handed opening partner played a much subdued role scoring 27 off as many balls with three fours.

Gayle's innings was the highlight of the day after the West Indies ripped out the remaining five Sri Lanka 'A' wickets for the addition of only 53 runs to find themselves batting, 20 minutes before the lunch break.

Gayle tore into the inexperienced bowling attack reaching his second tour half-century with two consecutive boundaries on the leg side off Prabath Nissanka, who conceded 36 runs in his first three overs. The fifty came up off only 54 balls with 10 fours in 70 minutes with Dinusha Fernando, the second seamer in the side being punished for 31 runs off his first spell of six overs.

Ruchira Perera who is expected to line up for the Test, also failed to make any impression on Gayle, conceding 40 runs off nine overs, and it was only when leg-spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi came on to bowl that there was a temporary cessation to the scoring rate. Lokuarachchi in his seven overs sent down the only maiden of the West Indies innings so far, and conceded just 16 runs. Had Michael Vandort at midwicket held onto a mistimed pull from Gayle when he was on 23, Sri Lanka 'A' would have been spared of the left-hander's broad blade. But the chance went abegging and the offending side were made to pay dearly for it.

Leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnaraine cleaned up the Lanka 'A' tail taking three wickets for eight runs of 6.1 overs of which five were maidens. He finished with final figures of 4 for 54, a performance which would assure his place for the first Test.

Fast bowler Colin Stuart, although having recovered from cramps in both legs on the first day was unable to return to the bowling attack despite taking the field today, having to wait the time he was off the field - about an hour and a half, by which time the Lankan 'A' innings was virtually over. Top scorer Hashan Tillakaratne added 12 runs to his overnight total of 74 before being trapped lbw by Reon King. The local team captain batted 246 minutes and hit 13 fours in his 182-ball innings for 86, a knock which he would be quite satisfied with having scored it four days ahead of the first Test at Galle.

There was no play after the tea break as the rains came down and the umpires eventually called off play for the day at 4.15 p.m. Play on the final day will commence half-an-hour early at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

SRI LANKA 'A' - 1ST INNINGS
(overnight 216-5)

R.P. Hewage c King b Stuart			 10
G.I. Daniel lbw b Stuart			 62
T.K.D. Sudarshana b Ramnaraine			 15
M.G. Vandort lbw b Hooper			 19
H.P. Tillakaratne lbw b King			 86
T.M. Dilshan c Jacobs b Hooper			 14
A.S.A. Perera b Ramnarine			 27
K.S. Lokuarachchi b Dillon			  8
K.A.D.M. Fernando lbw b Ramnaraine		  7
R.A.P. Nissanka not out				 10
P.D.R.L. Perera b Ramnaraine			  0 
Extras (B-1, LB-7, NB-3)			 11
TOTAL (all out, 109.1 overs, 455 mins)		269 

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-29, 2-69, 3-103, 4-134, 
5-168, 6-234, 7-252, 8-259, 9-261, 10-269.
BOWLING: Dillon 30-5-76-1 (2NB), King 25-6-71-1 (1NB),
Stuart 12-4-28-2, Ramnarine 29.1-13-54-4,
Hooper 13-1-32-2.

WEST INDIES - 1ST INNINGS

D. Ganga not out				 27      
C.H. Gayle not out				 96
Extras (NB-9, W-2)				 11
TOTAL (no loss, 29 overs, 140 mins)		134

To bat: R.R. Sarwan, B.C. Lara, C.L. Hooper, 
M.N. Samuels, R.D. Jacobs, M. Dillon, R.D. King,
D. Ramnaraine, C.L.R. Stuart.
BOWLING: R. Perera 9-0-40-0(6NB), Fernando 6-1-31-0(2NB),
Nissanka 3-0-36-0, Lokuarachchi 7-1-16-0,
S.  Perera 4-0-11-0 (2W).

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