PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Rain allowed just 1-3/4 hours play on the opening day of the fourth and final Test between West Indies and India at Queen’s Park Oval here yesterday.
Opting to bat first, the hosts had reached 62 for two when the inclement weather forced an early lunch and play never resumed as heavy rain left the outfield water-logged, forcing officials to call play off at 2pm.
At the time, opener Kraigg Brathwaite was unbeaten on 32 and was partnered by stroke-maker Marlon Samuels on four.
West Indies suffered two casualties in the morning session after rain had also earlier delayed the start by half-hour, forcing lunch to be rescheduled.
They lost opener Leon Johnson for nine approaching the hour mark and left-hander Darren Bravo for 10, shortly afterward to slip to 48 for two.
The left-handed Johnson added 31 for the first wicket with Brathwaite before he was caught at forward short leg by Rohit Sharma, off the first delivery of seamer Ishant Sharma’s opening spell.
He faced 30 deliveries and struck one four.
Bravo looked in good touch, punching Ishant through mid-on for four to get off the mark before clearing mid-on with off-spinner Ravi Ashwin in the next over for another boundary.
However, off the very next delivery, Bravo was bowled by one that drifted and turned and missed his defensive push.
Brathwaite, meanwhile, has faced 78 balls and struck five fours, in a fluent innings.
The right-hander got off the mark with a boundary to third man in the day’s first over and authoritatively pulled Ishant to the mid-wicket boundary a few overs later.
He stroked seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar nicely through mid-on for another four before also attacking Ashwin with a sweetly timed drive to the cover boundary.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES 1st innings
K Brathwaite not out 32
L Johnson c R Sharma b I Sharma 9
DM Bravo b Ashwin 10
M Samuels not out 4
Extras (lb 6, nb 1) 7
TOTAL (2 wkts, 22 overs) 62
To bat: J Blackwood, R Chase, +S Dowrich, *J Holder, D Bishoo, M Cummins, S Gabriel.
Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-48.
Bowling: Kumar 6-1-13-0, Mohammed Shami 6-2-14-0, Ishant Sharma 5-3-7-1, Ashwin 5-1-22-1.
INDIA – Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravi Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha, Cheteshwar Pujara, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma.
