Jamaica Test: 'Earl' stands between India and victory

Tags: India tour of West Indies 2016, West Indies vs India 2nd Test at Jamaica, Jul 30-Aug 03, 2016, West Indies, India

Published on: Aug 03, 2016

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India's worst nightmares came true as 'Earl', the tropical storm hitting Kingston, ate away most of the fourth day's play.

India's worst nightmares came true as 'Earl', the tropical storm hitting Kingston, ate away most of the fourth day's play. The rain was too heavy to allow any play beyond 15.5 overs. Even during this short period, India managed to make a huge impact, claiming four West Indian wickets while conceding 48 runs. Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Amit Mishra were the wicket-takers while Ravichandran Ashwin did not even get a chance to bowl. The forecast is better for Wednesday, and with a huge lead of 256 runs still with them, India will be hoping to wrap up the innings as soon as possible on the final day.
Play was supposed to start early to make up for lost time the previous day. Instead, the start was delayed as the conditions were too wet. And when play eventually began, only three overs were possible before rain again interrupted things. While these were not the ideal conditions to play cricket in, the Indian pacers took good advantage of the same, as the ball moved under the overcast skies. The West Indies batsmen, anyway suffering from lack of confidence, were hesitant throughout. They played and missed regularly, and were not comfortable at all out in the middle. The constant interruptions only made matters worse.
Rajendra Chandrika's horror run continued as one from Ishant gained extra bounce, hit his elbow, and proceeded to disturb the stumps. Chandrika made 1. Kraigg Braithwaite hung on for a while longer, but he fell to a poor short ball from Mishra, hitting one to KL Rahul, who took a smart catch running back from midwicket. Before this series, Marlon Samuels had a good record against India, and he would have been looking forward to improve on the same. Instead, he registered a duck on his home ground, as Shami got one to pitch on middle, and hit off stump. Darren Bravo's misery was also brought to an end by Shami, who had him caught in the slips via a short ball.
Only weather stands between India and a 2-0 lead on the final day at Kingston.
--By A Cricket Correspondent

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