11.15pm Well, the series has started well for the hosts, although the weather today may be a troubling indicator for the two remaining matches. Sri Lanka bowled well, fielded well and then batted really well to claim the win. West Indies were good in patches, but not nearly consistently enough through the game to make this a close contest. Madushka's report will be in shortly, so you can get a detailed recap of the action there. That's all from us today. Tune in for the second ODI on Wednesday! On behalf of Madushka, Ranjith and Thilak, this is Abhimanyu signing off. Take care and bye bye!

11.10pm Time for the presentation ceremony.

The Sri Lanka captain is also the player of the match! Here's what Charith Asalanka has to say: "It was a convincing win. Guys played very well. And there was something in the weather for our side. [On his knock] My plan was to attack positively with spinning conditions. [On the wet ball] Yeah for more than 15 overs we had a chance, and they couldn't bowl well and Nishan and I did well. [On Madushka replacing Nissanka and doing well] Yeah, he played well, and for me and the coach it creates a headache. A positive one."

West Indies skipper Shai Hope: "[On the weather] It's something we can't control. Yes it's challenging conditions, but we have to do better next time. We were showing good intent in the back-end of the innings. Sherfane played a wonderful knock. We have to take a leaf out of his book."

11pm Mendis had his arms raised in celebration before the ball landed. He knew he had sealed the win. Excellent chase this was from Sri Lanka. Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama played some aggressive cameos, and after they fell, a 137-run stand between Asalanka and debutant Nishan Madushka ensured they won the game. Liyanage and Kamindu Mendis ensured the late wickets of the two half-centurions did not cause any slip-ups. A professional display. Motie and Alzarri bowled well, but in the end, they did not have enough support from the other bowlers. Madushka was especially impressive, standing in for Sri Lanka's star opener Nissanka, who was missing with injury. Of course, Hasaranga and Vandersay had left West Indies in a tangle earlier after West Indies chose to bat, before Rutherford and Chase threatened to finish strong for them before rain set in and shortened the game. Stay tuned for the presentation ceremony coming up shortly.

Grary: "Moral Victory is acceptable when a new/upcoming team goes against a really strong side and end up losing even after putting them under pressure. Not to be used as a lame excuse when your team doesn't do well. Just saying.."

8.10pm We have news. We have an 8.25PM start for Sri Lanka's chase. It will be a 37-over game and Sri Lanka will be chasing 232! So the game will be back on in around 15 minutes. Get your popcorn ready accordingly, folks.

Swati: "How drs score is calculated?" Like the beginning of the universe, or if there is an afterlife, this will remain a mystery none of us will ever have an answer to.

KAT Ravinath : "Somebody might feel SL chase is a high ask. But based on overs have its a fair ODI chase where RRR around 6 an over."

Beastmaster: "Someone should tell Roston Chase that the cricket gods got so scared they cried, hence the rain and it's not SL fault. Or the cricket gods laughed so hard about Sammy's moral victories that there were tears and hence the rain. Either way not SL fault."

8pm So two officials did have a look at the pitch. But no official information yet. Covers have come off, though.

Theshan: "What is going on? Is this a wash out? WI looks really threatening before the rain. It is really unfortunate for them" Well, we can still have a 20-over game if play starts at 9.36, so a washout is still something we don't need to worry too much about. Not yet, anyway.

Akram: "Hey Abhimanyu, thanks for keeping an eye on this contest while everyone else has switched to the Final, though I am wondering what if you also switched and the game went on with no update here on cricinfo?" That's not going to do much help to my job security here, is it? So don't worry, the updates will keep coming here.

7.55pm Thanks Madushka. Bah, this is annoying innit? Well, at least there is a World Cup final to keep up with while we wait here.

7.50pm Still no word on the outcome of the inspection, or if it even took place. But while we wait for that here's Abhimanyu once more to keep you company.

"is this the end of WI inning ? " --- Very likely at this rate, Supun.

7:30pm Alright so while the inspection is still about 15 minutes away, the covers do seem to coming back on. Seems to be a drizzle about.

Inspection set for 7:45pm. For a 20-over game, play needs to restart by 9:36pm.

7.20pm Okay some good news, the covers are completely off. Only the pitch is covered at the moment, so we should hopefully get back to some cricket soon.

7.08pm The umpires are out for a stroll now, look to be checking the wetness of the outfield. Rain has completely stopped.

Doesn't look to be raining now, but not much movement really, just ground staff hanging about. Most of the ground still covered except for patches around the pitch.

7pm Oh, not looking good folks. While the outfield covers have remained on, it now looks like the pitch is being covered up again. Rain looks to have started up once more, though not heavy.

Spicy from Thanusan k: "Darren can consider it a moral victory if Sri Lanka ends up chasing the target using the Duckworth-Lewis method"

KAT RAVINATH: "Finally the covers getting rolled out. Hopeful of play resume around 7.30pm local time." --- That would be the minimum turnaround I reckon.

Mohanan: "When there is drought, they should hold a cricket match so that it rains "

6:55pm We have some movement! Covers coming off.

davo: "gotta feel for WI here..especially Rutherford. What could have been a 275 chase will become a cakewalk for SL." --- Unfortunate, yes, but you always run the risk when opting to bat first with rain about.

Balashankar: "Hey Madushka! What's the cut off time to get a 20-over match in?" --- Don't have the exact time, but still some time away as play can carry on till about 11pm.

Walt knows what's up: "Rain delay? Good thing the WT20 WC Final is starting soon!"

6.45pm Namal with a reasonably positive update: "Hello folks, I am at the stadium right now. The rain has stopped. Hope that ground staff will remove covers quickly"

Matthew aj: "So, you're telling me that espncricinfo, a multinational company, followed by millions, cannot afford to send a reporter to the grounds?" --- Ah dear Matthew, not as much a matter of money as it is of time. As much as I would love to take off to Dambulla and Kandy in consecutive weeks, I suspect my joy would be counterbalanced by the deeply unhappy spouse I return home to.

6.35pm Hey folks, the live feed on the SLC youtube channel is currently my primary weather watching source and it's a sea of blue (covers) at the moment. Looks like quite a wait.

6.30pm It's Madushka's turn to do some weather-watching while I grab a quick cuppa.

6.25pm Bad news: the rain is back, and the covers are being brought back on again. Looks like the whole ground has been covered now, according to Fidel. This does not bode well. Sigh.

Udana: "My better half is always right.!"

6.17pm So, while we wait for action here, a quick reminder that there is a historic women's T20 World Cup final about to get underway soon as well. Hop over to our coverage for what should be a fun build-up to that, where a new world champion will be crowned.

Anish: "So, West Indies inning is all but over, right ?" I am hoping we can still start early enough to give them a dash of four-five overs, but realistically, that prospect isn't looking likely.

Beastmaster: "1. I hope Madushka's fingers had enough rest 2. I hope the teams had dinner already so there isn't another break 3. I still hope I can go to be early"

"@Abimanyu: I can't understand the theory of reporting on behalf of @Maduahka. Are you not commentating this match from ground?" Neither of us are, Zia! While Madushka is still closer to Kandy, I am in a different country altogether!

6pm So we are officially in 'losing overs' territory now. Still no word on the restart. But Madushka informs me that the covers are coming off!

heshan: "Right now the way things are, if all 50 overs are on table, WI could reach 280 - 290. Wonder what might happen if it was chopped down to only 40, 45 overs with the current 4 and a half run rate?" Yeah, I have been wondering the same. They were just picking up momentum and would surely have upped their scoring rate in the next few overs. West Indies will definitely feel a little hard done, but that's cricket for you.

Ruichira Herath: "The 333-run chase where Hashan scored 100 was in the Singer Champions Trophy 1995 played in Sharjah. Not in a Benson and Hedges tournament."

Balashankar: "The key issue with the bowling attack of the West Indies have been their inability to find breakthroughs consistently. This attack looks promising though. Hayden Walsh Jr. has struggled with his consistency, but if he can better at it, the wrist spin option will do them a world of good."

Mohanan: "Any predictions about today's Women's T20 worldcup winner?" It's hard to pick, but whoever wins, it'll be an emotional story!

5.45pm The rain has stopped, Madushka informs me. But the covers still stay intact. We will likely start losing overs from 6pm, which will be an hour after play was stopped. So safe to assume we will lose a few overs. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka today registered a win against Hong Kong in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup today.

Akram: "The area covered and speed from SL ground staff is amazing, matches could restart in minutes after hours of rain, they are amazing." Indeed. And here's our own S Sudarshanan with an explainer on how they are so good at what they do, from when he was in country last year during the Asia Cup.

Lakwin: "A stat pearl - the all time top run scorer for SL v WI is the current coach, incomparable Jayasuriya (922 runs). Ranatunga has done exceptionally well too (756 ave 50 8x50s). The ONLY two players with 2 centuries are, Avishka who's opening today(in 4 inns) - and Tillekaratne. One of Hashans came in a famous benson and hedges match, where Lara scored 169, and we nearly chased 333 down - which was unheard of in the 90s."

Manoj: "Rain rain go away. Big Rutherford wants to play ... "

5.30pm So it's been around half an hour since rain stopped play. We were hopeful of a quick, passing shower, but we are still here waiting. Stay tuned, we'll have more information soon hopefully.

Udana: "my House is 12km from ground. its not raining there at the moment. but my better half says comming colors are not good as sky is very very heavy."

Jeff : "just looked closely at the radar. Not good, hard to see any play for at least an hour." If that is the case, I'm pretty sure we'll lose overs.

KaleshR: "Just woke up in Guyana to see a recovery, then the rain. WI can still get close to 300" West Indies were definitely on track for a good score with Rutherford and Chase looking good, and Rutherford and Motie (who really impressed with the bat in the T20Is!) to come, but they will hope that the rain break doesn't break their momentum as well.

"Drizzle had stopped in colombo, unfortunately just over 100km away from pallekelle." That drew a chuckle from me, Amila.

5pm And the players are off. The covers are coming on. This may not be a long delay, according to the on-screen commentary, but a break we will have. A bit of a momentum-breaker for West Indies, with Rutherford and Chase starting to up the tempo. The umpires waited a long while with a drizzle on hoping it'd be a passing shower, but the rain got heavier. So we will now have to wait.

Thushanka: "Any updates about weather?" No updates yet, but we'll update you as soon as we know more!

davo: "@Gururaj we are here...we're just being tentative with the match situation, this can quickly become 200 all out...also, Saturday nights are usually long in the Caribbean....."

Rahul : "@Abhimanyu WI fans are there in India too ! Silent cuz we don't wanna jinx"

Gururaj : "Why not many WI fans comments being published if any?!" It's barely 7.30 in the morning, so most of their fans are still napping, I'd suspect!

Some movement again among the groundstaff. The rain seems to have gotten heavier

And that will be a drinks break

riad: "Is it raining now ?With wet ball it will be hard to grip for the lankan bowlers" It is drizzling, and yeah, the bowlers have been working hard to dry the ball

Thanusan Kanage: "I feel a bit frustrated here. If we had played to our prime advantage, we should have restricted them to 200."