India-West-Indies Test: Rain dashes India’s clean sweep hopes, wins series 1-0

port of Spain. The second and final Test cricket match between India and West Indies ended in a draw after rain washed out play on the fifth day here on Monday. India thus won the two-match series 1-0 but rain washed out their hopes of collecting some crucial points for the third cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC). India, who were finalists in the first two cycles of the WTC, started the new cycle on a grand note by winning the first Test in Dominica by an innings and 141 runs. It rained heavily since morning on the fifth and final day of the match, forcing the players to spend most of their time in the dressing room.

Shortly before the scheduled time of lunch, the rain stopped and the clouds also parted, after which the umpires declared the play to start at 11.10 minutes IST. Just before the players could get on the field, clouds rolled in and it started raining. The umpires then declared the match a draw at 12.20 minutes Indian time with the consent of both the captains. Meanwhile, when the rain had stopped, Indian captain Rohit Sharma spent time signing autographs for his fans. Play on the fourth day of the match was also affected by rain, with West Indies scoring 76 for two while chasing a tough target of 365. In this way, West Indies are still 289 runs behind the target.

At the end of the fourth day’s play, Jermaine Blackwood was playing on 20 and opener Tegnarayan Chanderpaul was playing on 24 runs. Batting first, India scored 438 runs in their first innings with the help of Virat Kohli’s 121 runs. Thanks to the brilliant bowling of fast bowler Mohammad Siraj on the fourth day, India had dismissed the West Indies for 255 runs in the first innings. West Indies started their first innings at 229 for four on the fourth day but Siraj took five wickets in the morning session to revive India’s hopes of victory.

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Siraj took five wickets for 60 runs, giving the best performance of his career. Captain Rohit Sharma (57) and wicket-keeper batsman Ishan Kishan (52 not out) scored aggressive half-centuries as India declared their second innings at 181 for two and set a challenging target for the West Indies. Now a series of three ODIs and five T20 international cricket matches will be played between these two teams.