Persistent rain ruled out play after Sri Lanka had progressed to a promising 203 for three against New Zealand in a crucial Mircomax ODI tri-series match at the Rangiri Stadium here on Friday.
Consequently, Sri Lanka and New Zealand collected two points each from the contest. The Kiwis now have seven points from three matches. The host has six points from an equal number of games.
Both India, five from two, and New Zealand have a bonus point. If India defeats Sri Lanka here on Sunday, the home side will be out of the tournament.
For Sri Lanka, Mahela Jayawardene (59 not out) and comeback man Chamara Silva (41 not out) were in control when inclement weather intervened after 43.4 overs.
There was some more worrying news for Sri Lanka. Skipper Kumar Sangakkara faces a level II charge for alleged deliberate body contact with bowler Nathan McCullum
Dilshan cuts loose
Earlier, New Zealand had opted to field keeping in mind the possibility of Duckworth and Lewis equations coming into play.
Tillekaratne Dilshan cut loose in the fifth over of the innings; paceman Kyle Mills was dismissed for four boundaries. Two fierce pulls were followed by a slice past the point fence. When Mills bowled a fuller length, Dilshan cover-drove.
Daryl Tuffey consumed opener Upul Tharanga with a short-pitched delivery. The left-handed opener misread the extent of bounce to miscue an attempted pull. The opening pair had put on 56 runs in 9.4 overs and Tharanga's contribution was just 12.
Skipper Sangakkara soon straight drove Tuffey to the fence to signal his intentions. The host was 61 for one after the first 10 overs of power play.
Taylor's smart double change at this phase worked. Jacob Oram and Scott Stryis pegged back the Sri Lankans. After the five overs of bowling power play — taken from the 11th over — the host was 75 for one.
Styris struck immediately after the second batch of the power play overs. The handy seamer castled Dilshan (44) with a well-directed off-cutter.
After a rather sedate beginning, Jayawardene wristed Styris through the on-side field. Then, he picked off-spinner McCullum's length early to send the bowler over the mid-wicket ropes.
A flare-up
The incident involving Sangakkara and McCullum occurred as the Sri Lankan captain turned for a second run and collided with the bowler who was facing the wicketkeeper. A heated exchange followed and McCullum even took up the matter with the umpire.
The Sri Lankan captain then attempted to work Styris on the leg-side from the off-stump and popped up a catch. Interestingly, it was the charged-up McCullum who ended Sangakkara's innings (40), diving to hold a superb catch at short cover.
Mills faced the wrath of the umpires too. The Kiwi paceman was banned for half-an-hour from bowling because he landed a warm-up delivery on the playing surface before the 39th over of the innings. According to ICC rule 17.1, a bowler cannot pitch the ball either on the wicket for the match or the adjoining tracks for the purpose of practise. Consequently, Oram sent down the over.
Jayawardene and the aggressive Silva then provided momentum to the Sri Lankan innings with an unbeaten 72-run partnership. Sri Lanka was poised for the final onslaught when the skies opened.
