HREE rain interruptions, the second coming at 13:48hrs prevented any further play on the second day of the second Digicel sponsored Test match between the West Indies and India at the Kensington Oval ground, Barbados, yesterday.
When play was officially called off at 17:10hrs in overcast conditions, the West Indies were 98 for 5 in reply to India ’s first innings score of 201 made on the first day, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels the not-out batsmen on 20 and 21 respectively.
The home team resumed on their overnight score of 30 for 3, with Ramnaresh Sarwan and Devendra Bishoo on 10 and 0 respectively. Play got under way 45 minutes late due to a brief shower that occurred 10 minutes before the start of play.
They progressed to 57 for 3, with both Sarwan (18) and Bishoo (13) scoring boundaries albeit off the outside edge and through the slips cordon off Ishant Sharma, before the right-handed fast bowler removed both batsmen in the space of two deliveries to leave the Windies on 57 for 5 in the 18th over.
With Marlon Samuels joining Shivnarine Chanderpaul at such a precarious stage of the game for the West Indies, India’s skipper MS Dhoni went for the kill, employing four slips including a leg slip and two gullies, as Sharma and Praveen Kumar were getting the ball to swing both on and off the pitch.
Samuels and Chanderpaul survived the torrid spell of fast bowling from Sharma and later the spin of Harbhajan Singh, to steer the West Indies to 82 for 5 at lunch, with Samuels on 15 that included two fours and Chanderpaul 12, while Sharma’s figures read 10-4-31-3.
In heavy overcast conditions, and with a swinging ball, the West Indies reached 98 for 5 when play resumed 30 minutes after lunch following another rain interruption during the lunch interval, before the heavens opened up and forced the players off the field at 13:48hrs.
An attempt to restart play at 15:36hrs was thwarted as the rains came again for the third and final time, forcing the players off the field before a ball was bowled and despite the numerous inspections by the umpires, bad light prevented the restart of play.
All told, only 113 minutes’ play was possible yesterday and when play resumes today at 09:30hrs, both Samuels and Chanderpaul would be looking to stretch their sixth-wicket partnership that has already accumulated 41 runs for the West Indies, who need a further 103 runs to overhaul India’s score.

INDIA first innings 201
WEST INDIES 1st innings (o/night 30-3)
A. Barath c Kohli b Sharma    3
L. Simmons c wkp. Dhoni b Kumar    2
R. Sarwan lbw Sharma    18
D. Bravo c wkp. Dhoni b Mithun    9
D. Bishoo c Kohli b Sharma    13
S. Chanderpaul not out    20
M. Samuels not out    21
Extras: (lb-2, w-5, nb-5)    12
Total: (for 5 wkts, off 37.5 overs)    98
Fall of wickets 1-3, 2-5, 3-30, 4-53, 5-57.
Bowling: Kumar 17-3-39-1, Sharma 10-4-31-3 (nb-2, w-1), Mithun 8.3-3-18-1 (nb-3), Singh 2-0-8-0.