hit Sri Lanka-West Indies Test ends in a draw GALLE, Sri Lanka: Opener Tharanga Paranavitana missed out on a century as the first Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies was drawn Friday after rain washed out the final session on the fifth day. Paranavitana fell for 95 as the hosts reached tea on 241 for four, a lead of 39. No resumption of play was possible after the break. Paranavitana, dropped after he had made 53, and Mahela Jayawardene dug in with a third wicket stand of 87 on the final day to help secure a draw after Sri Lanka had followed on. West Indies, thanks to career best 333 from Chris Gayle, had made 580 for nine declared in its first innings and then dismissed the home side for 378. West Indies captain Darren helped end Paranavitana's resistance, taking a simple catch at slip from the bowling of Shane Shillingford. Jayawardene moved to his second half-century of the match by straight driving part-time spinner Brendan Nash for six but fell for 58 to the same bowler eight balls later when he drove too early and hit back a low return catch. Thilan Samaraweera (19) and Angelo Mathews (5) were together when light rain forced the players to take an early tea. West Indies started brightly in the morning and struck two early blows in the morning when Tillakaratne Dilshan and captain Kumar Sangakkara were dismissed within two overs of each other. Sangakkara said his side's below-par bowling in the first two sessions on the first day had allowed West Indies to take control of the test. “The lines and the lengths we bowled on this track was not good enough for us to put any pressure on them, to get wickets or to cut down on the runs. Chris (Gayle) took a lot of advantage from that and he batted magnificently,” he said. The second test starts in Colombo on Nov. 23. Bell in fine form Ian Bell fell just short of notching a double century before Tim Bresnan bowled England into a winning position Friday in the final tour game before next week's opening Ashes Test. Bell tuned up for the first Brisbane Test with a commanding 192 while Bresnan missed out on a hat trick as the tourists took a firm grip on their match with Australia A at Bellerive Oval. At the close on the penultimate day of the four-day match, England had Australia A 128-3, still 165 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat Saturday's final day. At stumps, former Test opener Phillip Hughes was unbeaten on 58 while skipper Cameron White was not out 22. Hussey hits a ton Under pressure Mike Hussey scored a timely century Friday to probably save his Test spot in the Australian side for next week's Ashes opener against England in Brisbane. The experienced left-hander hit 118 off 160 balls with 15 fours and two sixes to put Western Australia in the box seat to notch its first outright victory of the Sheffield Shield season against Victoria in Melbourne. Set a huge final innings target of 450, Victoria were 43 for no wicket at stumps on day three, needing a further 407 runs on Saturday for an unlikely victory. – Agencies Scoreboard West Indies (1st innings) 580-9 declared. Sri Lanka (1st innings) 378 Sri Lanka (2nd innings): Paranavitana c Sammy b S'ford 95 T. Dilshan b Roach 54 Sangakkara c Sammy b Roach 04 M. Jayawardene c and b Nash 58 T. Samaraweera not out 19 A. Mathews not out 05 Extras (lb1, nb1, w4) 06 Total (4 wickets; 81.2 overs) 241 Falls: 1-102 (Dilshan), 2-110 (Sangakkara), 3-197 (Paranavitana), 4-233 (M. Jayawardene). Bowling: Roach 17-3-55-2, Russell 8-1-31-0 (w2), Dwayne Bravo 12.2-1-40-0 (w2), Shillingford 30-4-79-1, Sammy 9-2-14-0, Nash 5-0-21
