SRI LANKA WIN RAIN-HIT ODI

TILLAKARATNE DILSHAN smashed 59 off 32 balls as Sri Lanka edged past the West Indies by one wicket in the rain-curtailed first one-day international in Colombo yesterday. Set a Duckworth-Lewis target of 163 in 26 overs, the hosts survived anxious moments before winning with seven balls to spare at the Premadasa stadium to grab the lead in the threematch series. Dilshan hit six boundaries and three sixes before Sri Lanka floundered while chasing the revised target after the West Indies, sent in to bat, had scored 159-8 in their 26 overs. The hosts, cruising at 104-2, lost seven wickets for 48 runs before tailender Ajantha Mendis hit the winning six off Johnson Charles in the company of last man Suranga Lakmal. Earlier, Andre Russell and Darren Bravo put on 58 runs off 37 balls to steer the West Indies to 159-8 after they slipped to 24-3 before the rain break.