Rain ended West Indies' run chase after just one over as the tourists' hopes of a breakthrough victory over Australia in the third one-day international were washed out in Sydney.
Requiring 226 for their first win of the Australian summer, the Windies were six for no 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 crowd (21,784) having left.
Chris Gayle was yet to score after surviving six balls from his nemesis Doug Bollinger, with Travis Dowlin left at the non-striker's end without facing.
The runs came from four byes and two wides as Bollinger went all out to capture Gayle's scalp for the third time in as many one-day matches.
The visitors needed to win to stay alive in the best-of-five series following heavy losses in Melbourne and Adelaide.
They now head off to Brisbane and then Melbourne again hoping to square the series.
The Windies included Wavell Hinds and Sammy in their line-up in a bid to break their losing streak.
Australia lost Shaun Marsh to a back injury in the warm-up and left out Clint Mackay, Brad Haddin and Shane Watson from the team that won by eight wickets in Adelaide on Tuesday.
Winning the toss and asking Australia to bat first on a pitch holding up amid the threat of rain, the Windies finally got it right in the field to give themselves a real shot at ending Australia's dominance.
Michael Hussey (44) and James Hopes (30) - and some lusty late hitting from Ryan Harris (21 from nine balls) - ensured the home side reached a reasonable total after a shaky start and late-order crash.
Ravi Rampaul claimed four for 61 and Dwayne Smith three for 45, while Darren Sammy (two for 46) and Kieron Pollard (one for 26) also contributed to dismantle an Australia battling line-up missing a number of key players.
Miserly spinner Nikita Miller had no wickets to show for his 10 overs but gave away just 35 runs in a fine spell which kept the brakes on the Australians during the middle stages of the innings.
Rain took the players from the field for 15 minutes midway through the session and always threatened to become the Windies' biggest enemy, with showers looking possible later in the evening.
But it was in brilliant sunshine that makeshift openers Tim Paine and Adam Voges made their way to the middle before a fairly small crowd after Gayle won the toss and somewhat surprisingly sent Australia in to bat.
The skipper's decision was soon vindicated, however.
Paine (16) was the first man out, playing across the line to Rampaul and turning to find his middle stump tilted back.
He was quickly joined in the pavilion by Voges (eight), out lbw to Smith in contentious circumstances.
The Western Australian felt he had edged the ball onto his pads, captain Ricky Ponting staring at umpire Billy Bowden incredulously after the crooked finger was raised.
That left the home side slightly vulnerable at 30 for two.
Michael Clarke and Ponting (22) threatened to wrest control back with a 48-run partnership before the skipper inside-edged Sammy onto his middle stump.
It was then left to Clarke and Cameron White to take the total past 100, but only just.
With the score on 107, White's unconvincing innings came to an end.
The Victorian launched into an aggressive square cut on 17 and almost sliced the ball in half in presenting wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin with a simple catch.
The rain then came to temporarily halt the Windies' momentum, taking the players from the field for quarter of an hour.
When the clouds cleared Hopes joined Hussey at the crease and the two went about building a respectable total.
But after taking the score in sight of 200, the pair fell within four runs of each other.
Hussey was the first to depart, bowled by Smith, before Hopes (30) shovelled a catch to Narsingh Deonarine off Rampaul.
Nathan Hauritz (three) and Mitchell Johnson (one) fell cheaply before Harris brought the crowd to their feet with some massive hitting in the final over.
He creamed three consecutive fours off Rampaul before sending the fourth ball over the fence.
The fun ended next ball when he holed out to Pollard at long on.
