Debasis Sen, Port of Spain: Rain played spoilsport on Day 1 of the fourth and final test match of the series at the Queens Park Oval on Thursday. West Indies batting first after winning the toss were placed at 62/2(22 overs) going into lunch, as heavy rain forced the umpires to call off play for the remainder of the day.
This was after the toss had been delayed by 30 minutes, on account of showers last evening and early this morning. West Indies won the toss and elected to bat, making one change to their line-up as Devendra Bishoo replaced Alzarri Joseph. India made two changes to their playing eleven, bringing in Murali Vijay for Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara for Ravindra Jadeja.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0-13) and Mohammed Shami (0-14) started off proceedings then, half an hour past the scheduled time with the session timings adjusted accordingly, as Leon Johnson (9) and Kraigg Brathwaite (32*) took guard. Under overcast conditions, the two pacers got enough purchase with the new ball and squared up both batsmen on more than a couple occasions from both ends. Kumar, in particular, continued from where he left off in St. Lucia.
And he should have had his reward, but skipper Virat Kohli dropped Brathwaite (on 4*) in the 3rd over off Kumar, unable to latch on to the low one-handed catch at 2nd slip. Shami though was a touch wayward and it allowed the batsmen to score off him at times. It necessitated bringing Ishant Sharma (1-7) into the attack, and he delivered off the very first ball. Johnson couldn’t keep down a short delivery in the 12thover, and lobbed it up for Rohit Sharma to complete an easy catch at short leg, diving forward.
Spin was introduced in the 13th over then, and in his very second over, R Ashwin (1-22) slipped a beauty past Darren Bravo (10) and knocked back his off stump. Marlon Samuels (4*) then joined Brathwaite at the crease, and the two took the score past the 50-mark before rain came again, just 15 minutes before the scheduled lunch was to be taken.
The Oval has received heavy rainfall over the past week and another heavy shower during the lunch break forced a length delay thereafter. The outfield was water logged by 2 pm local time, and with rain not stopping, play was called off early. Day two is stipulated to start at 9.30 am (7pm IST).
India lead the four-match series 2-0, after winning the first Test in Antigua by an innings and 92 runs, and the third Test in St. Lucia by 237 runs. The second Test in Jamaica was drawn.