Rain washes away tourists' chances

The West Indies team's hopes of a breakthrough victory over Australia in the third one-day international were washed out.

SYDNEY // Rain ended West Indies' run chase yesterday after just one over as the tourists' hopes of a breakthrough victory over Australia in the third one-day international were washed out. Requiring 226 for their first win of the Australian summer, Windies were six without loss when rain forced the players from the field at 7.14pm local time. They returned just over two hours later, only for the rain to start falling again after just one ball. Umpires officially abandoned the game at 9.28pm, with most of the 21,784 crowd having left. The visitors needed a victory to have any chance of winning in the best-of-five series following heavy defeats in Melbourne and Adelaide. Michael Clarke (46) and Mike Hussey (44) top-scored in the Australia innings. The sides meet again in Brisbane on Sunday.

KOLKATA // Graeme Smith faces a race against time to be fit for tomorrow's second Test against India after a scan revealed he had suffered ligament damage to the little finger of his left hand. The South Africa captain suffered the injury while attempting a catch during a fielding training session at Eden Gardens, where the final game will be played. "An MRI scan has confirmed that Proteas captain Graeme Smith has suffered ligament damage to the little finger of the left hand," said a statement from Cricket South Africa. "There is considerable swelling around the injury. The medical team is confident that the swelling will subside in the next 24 hours." The Proteas lead the best-of-two series 1-0 following their innings-and-six-run victory in the first Test at Nagpur.