India ended Day 3 of the second Test against the West Indies in Jamaica on Monday in a strong position, but face the prospect of rain halting their march to victory over the next two days. The last session of the day was washed out after India had declared at 500/9 in response to West Indies' first innings score of 196, a lead of 304.
Ajinkya Rahane was the star for India, scoring yet another overseas Test century, his third outside Asia at the No 5 position. Yet, despite the possibility of rain looming ahead, India were restrained in their first session, scoring only 67 runs in 26.4 overs, which ended with the wicket of Wriddhiman Saha for 46.
The first rain-break arrived when India were on 454/6 with Rahane batting on 83. However, play resumed after a short interruption and West Indian off-spinner Roston Chase picked up the wickets of Amit Mishra and Mohammed Shami in consecutive deliveries. This brought Umesh Yadav out and finally led to a move on from India. Yadav smashed a couple of boundaries, while Rahane moved to 95 with a six over extra cover.
The 28-year-old got to his century in slightly streaky fashion, offering an outside edge to Chase, which eluded first slip and ran away to the boundary. He celebrated the achievement with another six over long-on, but Chase brought a few smiles back to the West Indies camp, accounting for Yadav to get a five-wicket haul in only his second match with India at 500/9.
Unfortunately, that would be all the play for the day. Virat Kohli declared immediately after Yadav's wicket, following which the rain came pouring down as the players took an early tea. An intermittent drizzle continued and by the time it stopped, the light was not good enough to continue and the play was called off.
Facing a deficit of 304, West Indies still have a massive mountain to climb, but Virat Kohli will be keeping a wary eye towards the horizon over the next two days. A tropical storm has been forecast to hit the region on Day 4, which could help West Indies escape with a draw.
Brief scores:
West Indies 196 (Jermaine Blackwood 62, Marlon Samuels 37; Ravichandran Ashwin 5/52, Mohammed Shami 2/23) trail India 500/9 declared (KL Rahul 158, Ajinkya Rahane 108 not out, Wriddhiman Saha 47, Roston Chase 5/121) by 304 runs.