Galle, Nov 23 (IANS): West Indies were 224/9, trailing Sri Lanka by 162 runs before persistent rain led to early stump on Day 3 of the first Test at Galle International Stadium, here on Tuesday.

The Windies batters Shannon Gabriel and Joshua Da Silva will resume the Day 4 with an hope to add some more vital runs while Lanka, who scored 386 in their first innings, will aim to wrap things up as quickly as possible.

Starting the day on 113/6, West Indies needed a collective effort from the lower-order batters to avoid the follow on and Kyle Mayers, Jason Holder, Rahkeem Cornwall and Joshua da Silva did that by making significant contributions with the bat.

Mayers and Holder first established a 63-run stand at a decent pace, counter-attacking the Sri Lankan spinners. Mayers was the first one to depart on 45 with Karunaratne taking an excellent catch at short cover with Dhananjaya de Silva celebrating the scalp.

Holder departed soon after with another brilliant effort in the field, this time from Chameera, with Jayawickrama scalping his third to bring an end to the former captain's knock of 36.

Cornwall then adopted the aggressive route with some cracking shots, as West Indies headed to lunch at 215/8 adding 102 runs in the session. He got out relatively early after lunch but his knock of 39 proved to be of massive importance, helping West Indies save the follow-on.

Rain then interrupted play immediately after as the covers came onto the field for a short delay. Despite things looking sunny at one point, the rain kept playing hide and seek for the remainder of the day, with the umpires eventually calling off play.