Debasis Sen, Kingston(Jamaica): India is on the verge of taking a 2-0 lead in the four match series. Persistent rain throughout the day forced an early end to play on day four with the hosts in deep trouble at 48/4 in their second innings and 256 runs behind the visitors.Rain played hide and seek at Sabina Park as the hosts lost four wickets by lunch with only 15.5 overs being bowled.
While the sky was clear during the break, rain returned just minutes before the scheduled resumption of play. No play was possible thereafter, with the day called off at 3.40 pm local time.
Tropical storm Earl hasn’t hit Jamaica with full fury, but persistent showers made sure that a lot of playing time was lost in the morning session, with forecast not too good for the remainder of the day either. The hosts will try to save the match on day five, with play scheduled to begin at 9.30 am local time and 98 overs to be bowled in the day.
Considering the poor battting effort by the West Indies batsmen so far, it looks improbable they would make India bat again in the game.
Double strikes from Md Shami gave India a great chance of wrapping up the second test match on the fourth day here at Sabina Park. The hosts were struggling at 48/4, still needing 256 runs to avoid an innings defeat.
Shami bowled a beauty to get rid of Marlon Samuels beating the Jamaican all ends up. Samuels had to return without scoring. The pacer from Bengal in his next over before lunch got rid of Darren Bravo with a beauty as well. The left hander had no other options but to edge a short ball that bounced awkwardly to take an edge to Rahul fielding at second slip. He continued with his poor run of form as he could only manage to score 20 runs. West Indies at lunch were 48/4, still needing 256 runs to avoid an embarrassing innings defeat at the Sabina Park.
Opener Kraig Brathwaite played an irresponsible shot to give his wicket away to Mishra. He played a pull shot, only to be caught by Lokesh Rahul fielding well inside the boundary at square leg. He scored only 23 runs from 45 balls. West Indies were 41/3 at that time.
Ishant Sharma gave India an early breakthrough as he got Chandrika bowled in his second over. Chandrika, who looked out of sorts so far in the series, dragged one that bounced outside on to his stumps. West Indies were 5/1 after 2.3 overs. But the players were forced to leave the ground as it started raining again after only 15 minutes of play. The fourth days play was delayed for almost an hour as it kept raining since morning. The scheduled start of play on Day 4 was at 9:30 am, but the umpires were forced to delay due to wet conditions in the outfield.
The fate of the second India-West Indies Test hung in the balance as extreme weather conditions is expected throughout the fourth day of the test match here at Sabina Park. The third days play was also truncated by rain.
The actual storm hit the island of Jamaica early morning with the meteorological department issuing a warning. There were alert messages from Digicel, the Number 1 mobile service providers in the Caribbean. The messages read: Get ready for the storm. Be sure to stock up on food, fully charge and top-up your phone and have a battery operated radio to check for updates.
It was followed by another message that read: Tropical storm warning in effect for Jamaica. Heavy thunderstorms and gusty winds until Tuesday. Prepare to evacuate flood prone and low lying areas.
Typically in these parts, when a tropical storm warning is issued, all small boats and fishing vessels are required to be safely secured, and remain in the harbour until further notice. Additionally, those living in low-lying areas, in this case the southern parishes of Kingston were warned to expect flash flooding. It was advised that people in such areas stock up on basic supplies such as food and drinking water in the eventuality that the effects of the storm kept them indoors longer than anticipated.
The meteorological department has predicted winds in the range of 63-118 kmph, dangerous surf conditions and heavy rainfall.
The tropical storm had disastrous effect back in May 2002 when at least 26 people lost their lives in Jamaica and Haiti causing flooding and landslides. The estimated damage to property was in the range of $6 million and the weather system ensured that persisting rain lasted for days.