GALLE, Sri Lanka (CMC) — Rain was again an un-welcomed intruder, after Shane Shillingford and Kemar Roach bowled West Indies to a healthy first-innings lead, and Sri Lanka started a recovery in the first Test yesterday.

Shillingford captured a career-best four wickets for 123 runs from 33.2 overs, and Roach scalped three for 75 from 19 overs, as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 378 about half-hour before tea on the penultimate day of the Test at the Galle International Stadium.

With a first-innings lead of 202, new West Indies captain Darren Sammy asked the Sri Lankans to bat again, following a brief on-field discussion with his side, and the home team reached 89 without loss when the rain interrupted with 22 overs remaining in the day.

It was the second straight day that the weather had played a significant role in the match. Only 30.5 overs were possible on the previous day.

Clearly exhausted from their earlier toil, the West Indies bowlers failed to make a breakthrough in the 22 overs available to them either side of tea, and Tillkaratne Dilshan and Tharanga Paranavitana both comfortably marched to 44 not out.

Shillingford and Roach had toiled tirelessly in difficult conditions to work their way through the Sri Lankan batting, and give West Indies the luxury of asking any side to follow-on in Tests for the first time in five years.

The visitors previously asked South Africa to bat again in the first Test of the 2005 home series in Guyana, which marked Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s first Test in charge, and several players boycotting to protest terms and conditions in a disagreement with the West Indies Cricket Board.

Typically, West Indies almost let it slip away, after pouching the classy Mahela Jayawardene early for 59, as the unrelated Prasanna Jayawardene made 58, and Thilan Samaraweera scored 52 to follow their captain Kumar Sangakkara’s 73 to add some beef to the Sri Lanka total.

West Indies had Sri Lanka on the run at 295 for seven, but some wayward bowling, and questionable tactics from Sammy allowed Prasanna Jayawardene and Dammika Prasad to soldier-on for over an hour, and add a valuable 72 for the ninth wicket.

The West Indies bowlers were punished by the two Sri Lankan batsmen whenever they delivered anything fractionally off-line and off-length — and Jayawardene cantered to his 50 from 74 balls with a single to square leg off Chris Gayle.

But Shillingford again intervened, when he had Prasad caught inside the long-on boundary for a career-best 47 from 40 balls, which included two sixes and three fours.

Operating with a well-worn ball, Roach had Ajantha Mendis caught at backward point for four, and next over, Shillingford had Jayawardene caught at deep square leg top-edging a sweep to ensure Sri Lanka fell just three runs shy of the threshold.

Before lunch, Shillingford, Roach, and the rest of the West Indies attack stuck manfully to their tasks, and grabbed the wickets of Mahela Jayawardene, Samaraweera, and Angelo Matthews for 27, after Sri Lanka resumed from their overnight total of 165 for three.

It had appeared West Indies would face the long, hard grind, when Jayawardene, who was dropped by Dwayne Bravo at leg-slip off Shillingford on 54, and Samaraweera started positively.

But Roach struck an early, major blow, when he removed Jayawardene caught behind in the first hour.

Shillingford then became the target of some punishment from Samaraweera, when he conceded three boundaries from his second over of the day, the third of the morning.

West Indies however, tightened up, and it took nine overs before Sri Lanka could find a boundary, with Samaraweera cutting Shillingford to move to 49 before he picked up a single next over off Bravo to reach his 50 from 69 balls.

Two overs later, Bravo ran Samaraweera out, when Matthews’ full-blooded drive ricocheted off his boot onto the stumps, finding the non-striker well short of his ground.

Again, West Indies came under some pressure, as Matthews and Prasanna Jayawardene batted with enterprise, easily scoring against the tiring Bravo and Sammy’s seemingly harmless medium pace.

Shillingford was brought back for the final over before the interval, and he had Matthews smartly caught by Sammy at leg-slip, trying to tickle the fifth ball of the over around the corner, to leave Sri Lanka 264 for six.

After the interval, West Indies met further resistance before Shillingford spin-bowled Suraj Randiv for 12 to leave the Sri Lanka innings at the crossroads before Prasanna Jayawardene and Prased defied the visitors’ attack.