Sri Lanka stretch lead to 411 before rain washes off final session

Dimuth Karunaratne was the star performer as his astute knock drove Sri Lanka to a strong position, before weather played spoilsport in the final session on Day 4 of the first Test against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Tuesday (November 1).

Although the day belonged to Sri Lanka - 242 runs were added in 58.5 overs - Carl Mumba, the 100th player to represent Zimbabwe in Tests, grabbed eyeballs with his impressive bowling, accounting for four of the six wickets to fall in the day.

Dhananjaya de Silva, playing in his fourth Test match, also shone with a brisk fifty, and more importantly, was involved in a 91-run partnership with Karunaratne, which has literally batted the hosts out of the game.

In the morning, there was thrill in the Zimbabwean camp when Mumba struck very early - castling Kaushal Silva - but a fifty-run partnership between Kusal Perera and Karunaratne steadied the Lankan ship. Similar to the first innings, Perera began with a second ball four, but was not quite fluent in his second essay and was caught smartly at slip by Hamilton Masakadza off Malcolm Waller for 17.

Kusal Mendis was positive in his brief stay, but was out in the last over before lunch to Mumba. Joining Karunaratne after the break, Upul Tharanga - who ended his 10-year wait for a Test hundred in the first innings - did not last long as Mumba once again struck in his first over after lunch.

The 25-year-old de Silva then strode out and batted in a positive fashion - hitting boundaries and also ensuring strike rotation, as the partnership reached 50 off 77 balls. Karunaratne was into his 90s by then and eventually reached the three-figure mark, thereby recording fifty-plus scores in both innings of a Test for the first time in his career.

A while later, Christopher Mpofu foxed the left-hander with a slower ball and ended his fourth Test hundred at 110. Debutant Asela Gunaratne and de Silva were on the look out for quick runs, but a Mumba short ball misbehaved and forced the latter to lob to point. Natural light had faded by then, thanks to the cloud cover and the umpires were forced to take the players off the field.

Minutes after bad light halted play, the heavens opened up and a proper downpour meant no further play was possible in the day. Sri Lanka's lead is 411 now and an overnight declaration looms large as skipper Rangana Herath would ideally want to give his bowlers enough time to bowl Zimbabwe out again.

To make up a bit of lost time, play will start half an hour early on the final day at 09:30 local time.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 537 (Tharanga 110*, Kusal Perera 110, Kaushal Silva 94; Graeme Cremer 4 for 142) and 247 for 6 (Karunaratne 110, Dhananjaya de Silva 64; Carl Mumba 4 for 50) lead Zimbabwe 373 (Graeme Cremer 102*, Donald Tiripano 46, Tino Mawoyo 45; Suranga Lakmal 3 for 69) by 411 runs.