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India battle rain and resilient hosts
KINGSTON: Two power cuts in one hour was the first indication of what was about to come towards Kingston. Confirmation came another hour later when the mobile service
KINGSTON: Two power cuts in one hour was the first indication of what was about to come towards Kingston. Confirmation came another hour later when the mobile service provider sent two messages.
The first message sounded a normal alert. “Tropical storm warning in effect for Jamaica. Heavy rains, thunderstorms and gusty winds until Tuesday. Prepare to evacuate flood prone and low-lying areas.”
The second message, however, 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.”
If the power cut was unnerving this second message was plain scary. Throughout the Test match at the Sabina Park, there was news of a tropical storm watch issued in Jamaica. At around 4 on Tuesday morning, strong gusts of wind had started slapping Kingston. Live news reports said that Kingston managed to evade a bigger calamity and that the thunderstorm had just brushed the city.
The rain, however, came in relentless waves. Sitting almost on top of the stadium, the press box had a bird’s eye view of the entire Kingston port coastline just beyond the George Headley Stand. Every 10 minutes or so, a burst of rain was seen approaching from the south-east direction.
Sporadic but heavy rain meant the groundsmen had a tiring day pulling in the covers and then lugging them back to the sidelines. But the ground drainage was impressive. Almost 75 minutes were lost due to overnight rain but it could have been more so easily. Just three overs were bowled before rain returned but that was enough for India to make their first inroads of the day. Ishant Sharma’s sizzling form in West Indies continued as he dislodged Rajendra Chandrika’s bails in the last over before covers were called in.
Chandrika might bring back memories of Shivnarine Chanderpaul with the way he uses a bail to mark his guard but his defence is nowhere as compact as the former West Indies batting mainstay. Sharma kept the ball outside off and just short of length. Watching the ball move in, Chandrika raised his arms to leave it but the extra bounce made the ball take a ricochet off his right elbow before crashing into his stumps.
Any momentum that India would have got from the dismissal was negated by another wave of rain. But West Indies weren’t putting a strong front either.
