Fifth and final day of the second Test was washed out. (Twitter/BCCI)India vs West Indies 2nd Test Day 5 Highlights: Torrential rain spelt the end of the fifth and final day of the final Test between India and the West Indies on Monday. The match was ultimately called off and declared a draw with India winning the series 1-0. A rain-marred fourth day saw India pick two wickets to leave West Indies at 76 for two in their second innings, having set an imposing target of 365 runs to win the match and level the two-match series, which is part of the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
As and when the match starts, a stronger India will fancy their chances of winning the game and completing a 2-0 whitewash of the hosts. Jermaine Blackwood (20) and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (24) were out in the middle at the close of fourth day’s play. To make worse at the Queen’s Park Oval, it rained overnight.
On the fourth and penultimate day, India had given themselves the best chance to win the Test with an ultra-aggressive batting approach after lead pacer Mohammed Siraj produced career-best figures of 5/60. Siraj’s five-wicket haul in the morning session allowed India to bowl out the West Indies for 255 in their first innings after the hosts started day four at 229 for five. Scroll down for IND vs WI highlights.
West Indies
255 (115.4) & 76/2 (32.0)India
438 (128.0) & 181/2 decWest Indies drew with India
Every win is different. Playing in WI has its own challenge. Happy with the way things went. We gave it a good shot, unfortunately we couldn't get any play today. We actually went out with a positive intent yesterday. Rain had its final say. We were quite confident. You know how difficult it is batting last. We always wanted that kind of score where we wanted the opposition to go for it. There wasn't much on the surface. No play today, unfortunate for us. Siraj, I have been watching closely. He's taken such a giant step. He has led this attack. I don't want anyone to lead the attack. I want everyone to lead when they are having the ball in their hand. You want the entire pace battery taking the responsibility. You need guys like Ishan. We wanted quick runs, we promoted him, he wasn't afraid. He was the first one to put his hand up. In Test matches, you need guys who stabilise the innings like what Virat did, he played superbly. You need the mixture of everything. We have depth, we have got variety. We are in the right place. It's about getting the job done. I always believe in getting better as a team. I said after the WTC final as well. We've played consistent cricket. That's what we are looking at. We want to focus on all three aspects of the game. We need to be a good fielding unit. Bowlers how to respond under pressure. What sort of mindset batters go in with under challenging conditions. That's what I am looking forward to.
We showed some fight in this game with the bat. Bowling-wise, we can be more disciplined. It was a good comeback from the batters. We lost five wickets yesterday, that wasn't good. Top-order batting 100+ overs is pleasing. We were positive, we had 98 overs on a pitch that was relatively good. It was on. Unfortunately with the weather, we didn't get a chance. Alick looked good from the word go. In the Dominica Test, he belonged. They have good pitches in Australia. Continue working on your game, come and enjoy it. Kirk looked good in his first match. These two guys have promise. They are the future. I have a lot of belief in these two. It'll be good to have some camps, some match practices. Using Kookaburra balls. Preparation is important. We need to bat for long periods against good teams. Some countries have club cricket going on.
This is my first Player of the Match award in Tests, very pleased. There wasn't much help for the pacers. I kept my plans simple and executed. When you pick wickets in conditions like this, you get loads of confidence. Rohit bhai asked me to believe in myself, not take any pressure and enjoy.
And it's official. The match has been called off and it'll be a tie as India win the series 1-0
Bad news as the live visuals show that it has started raining again. It's pretty dark and a restart looks pretty bleak. Let's see what the official word is.
Live visuals from the venue shows dark clouds hovering over the ground as the Indian players sit and have a discussion. Same for the hosts as well as we wait for the match to start.
Start has been delayed again and the covers are on. It's been that kind of day today. We have lost a lot of time already. Let's see if this match ultimately gets underway or not.
Another update from the middle states that the match is set to begin at 13.40 local time which is 11.10 PM IST. That's very very close. Let's see when it actually begins.
There's a slight drizzle again and the covers are on. Play was scheduled to resume in a few minutes but that looks to be delayed. Let's wait and watch when it can get underway.
According to reports, the match will take place and will start at 13.15 local time which is 10.45 PM IST. A total of 67 overs will be bowled.
Had the first session started on time, it would have been lunch but there aree still no word on the developments from the middle. The 1st session is probabaly washed out and we'll know soon enough if we can begin after lunch.
Latest visuals from the venue reveals the ground staff removing the covers and the mopping up process has started in and around the field as well as the pitch.
Encouraging news from the ground as the dark clouds have gone away and we see blue sky overhead. The umpires, still in their casual wear, are inspecting the ground but there are no umbrellas. So while it won't be a prompt restart but the match might eventually get started.
It's still unclear when the match can begin with the covers firmly on and the ground staff yet to get on the field and remove them. It'll be a lengthy delay alright. Oh wait, it has started raining heavily again and the waiting game continue.
Jasprit Bumrah is still recovering from the stress fracture, Mohammed Shami is rested for the series and with Ishant Sharma is semi-retired, and in the absence of his senior pros, Mohammed Siraj stepped up and became the leader of the Indian pace attack in only his 21st Test.
On Sunday, Siraj showed why the team management has given him the responsibility and why he loves challenges. On a pitch, where there was nothing for the seamers, the 29-year-old hit executed his pland well and returned with his career-best figures of 5 for 60 on a placid track. “I executed my plan nicely, especially when it started to reverse,” he told reporters after the days play.
“There was nothing much happening, so I planned to bowl stumps to stumps. Plan was simple to not give them easy runs and keep things simple. “I relish responsibilities. To step in on the field with a responsibility on my shoulders gives me extra motivation and it is challenging as well and I like to accept challenges,” he said.
Still drizzling but the torrential downfall has stopped. We now wait for the teams to come to the venue from their hotels but it'll still be a while till the match can start again.
Ishan Kishan, who smashed an unbeaten 34-ball 52, his maiden Test fifty thanked Rishabh Pant for giving him some batting tips at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) ahead of the West Indies tour. “I was at NCA before coming here. I was practising there and Rishabh was also there for his rehab. He just got a few points for me,” Kishan said after the end of days play.
“He asked me to you know, the bat position and everything because he, had seen me playing with him. We have played together so many matches. We have been together since U-19. “So he knows how I play, what my mindset is. So you just help me a little bit with my bat position and everything, so otherwise I think I also wanted someone to tell me a few things about my batting and it was a great time for him to come and chat with me and really thankful for that,” he added.
Bad news from the middle as it's constantly raining in Trinidad and it has significantly delayed ther start of the match. No idea when it can start again. We'll keep ypu posted as and when we find anything out.
On a pitch where there was nothing for the seamers, the 29-year-old Mohammed Siraj executed his plans well and returned with career-best figures of 5 for 60 on a placid track.
With Jasprit Bumrah still recovering from the stress fracture, Mohammed Shami rested for the series and Ishant Sharma being semi-retired, Siraj stepped up and became the leader of the Indian pace attack in only his 21st Test.
“There was nothing much happening, so I planned to bowl stumps to stumps. Plan was simple to not give them easy runs and keep things simple.
“I relishe responsibilities. To step in on the field with a responsibility on my shoulders gives me extra motivation and it is challenging as well and I like to accept challenges,” he said.
The stop-start proceedings on Day 4 showed where the West Indies are as a Test team, being competitive against top teams for only isolated periods without quite acing the significant passages of play. When push comes to shove, they falter as they did on Day 4 – with their lower order caving in, and their bowling and fielding succumbing to the assault by the Indian openers.
When the fielding side’s focus strays from getting wickets, it frees up the batsmen to such an extent that field placements don’t quite matter. West Indies skipper Brathwaite spread his men far and wide pretty quickly, even though third man, for some reason, was kept untenanted. Boundaries, both fours and sixes, seem to come almost every other delivery, on both sides of the wicket, as the West Indies pace bowlers were treated with utter disdain.
India's second innings got off to a start that would have been more than acceptable in a T20 game. The scoring rate was in the high 10s after four overs, and the 50 came up in just 34 balls.
The West Indian fielders did their bit to extend hospitality with Shannon Gabriel and Kirk McKenzie dropping what would be described as sitters at the international level, Rohit the beneficiary on both occasions as he went on to a quickfire fifty.
Jaiswal set the tone with the first ball of the innings, as he went for a wild hoick against Kemar Roach. He didn’t get the desired outcome on that ball, but the intentions were clear from the outset. The left-hander stepped out in the first over itself, making room to hit the pacer over wide mid-on for a six. Next ball when Roach got too straight, he was creamed through the onside for a boundary.
Ravichandran Ashwin got home captain Kraigg Brathwaite for the fourth successive time in the series on Sunday – this time top-edging a sweep.
The spinner then trapped debutant Kirk McKenzie with a quick slider from round the stumps for a duck. The master off-spinner will be the biggest threat for the batsmen on the final day too, with the pitch starting to provide some assistance to tweakers.
Getting a clean sweep against the West Indies seems imperative for India’s chances of making a third successive final in the World Test Championship. With series against South Africa, England and Australia lined up this term, Rohit Sharma & Co will want to end the series with a sweep.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the fifth day of the second Test between India and West Indies.
After India won the first Test in three days, the hosts have shown some spunk in the second game. But on Monday, they will need to score 289 runs to level the series. Indian, on the other hand, need eight wickets.