The covers coming out

In 1996, the Lankans were possessed of a tail that could wag to very good effect when needed. But in conditions not quite conducive to batting, neither Upashantha, nor Wickremasinghe, showed the ability to chip in with useful runs.

Both tail-enders did get into double figures, with a mixture of agricultural strokeplay and edges into gaps, but Upashantha then gave it up by slapping a short, slower one from Hollioake straight to Thorpe at midwicket, and then Wickramasinghe pushed at one outside off to bring Stewart back into action.

When the rain came down, the last pair were at the crease, and Lanka, with 197/8 in 48.1 overs, were facing a prospect bleaker than the weather.

Given that a reserve day is in place for all matches, the umpires decided to let the clouds rain all they liked. And once it cleared, a good 45 minutes later, the Lankan innings was resumed -- for all of the three balls that Gough took, to flatten Murali's offstump with an inswinging yorker.

Lanka finished on 204, having failed to bat out their full fifty overs. By then, the skies had cleared, the conditions had become much better for batting, and the conclusion was inescapable that Lanka was a good 40-odd runs, at the least, shy of a defensible total.

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