Rain holds up WI

Play was curtailed by mid-afternoon rain for the second day in a row, but that did not stop the West Indies from advancing into a commanding position thanks to centuries from Daren Ganga and Ramnaresh Sarwan. Ganga anchored the innings with a steady 135, while Sarwan’s 116 was the impetus that drove the home side to 420-5 at stumps.

With both batsmen not out overnight as the Windies were left poised on 207-1 following yesterday’s rain, they continued from where they left off. Sarwan played a series of flamboyant and positive strokes to negate early turn from Harbhajan Singh, while Ganga played diligently and forced the bad ball away whenever it came along.

Sarwan’s charge towards his ninth Test century, on his 26th birthday, began in the 83rd over, bowled by Munaf Patel. Patel had begun the day innocuously, and continued in such fashion – Sarwan had clearly resolved to punish him for it. He struck 25 runs from one over, including six successive fours – the last came from a no-ball, meaning Patel’s punishment was extended. He managed a dot ball from the final delivery, however, and Sarwan remained on 99.

A well-deserved hundred came soon after, as the West Indian vice-captain joined Ganga on three figures. The opener had reached his shortly beforehand, his first in Tests for three years. Their partnership took the home side to the dominant position of 346-1 before it was broken – Ganga’s 294-ball innings was ended when he dragged a Patel delivery back onto his stumps, giving the paceman his second wicket of the innings.

Patel struck again soon after, trapping the great Brian Lara leg-before – Lara had already chipped a leading edge just over the bowler’s head off Kumble, so his dismissal was perhaps not as unexpected as it usually would be. Sarwan’s innings came to an end shortly after, as he was also trapped in front, this time by Sreesanth. There was a suggestion that the ball may have been slipping down the leg-side, but the appeal was upheld by umpire Koertzen and Sarwan was gone. Suddenly the Windies were in the middle of a mini-collapse, on 371-4.

Dwayne Bravo strode out to the wicket, and was soon into his stride with a couple of boundaries – but his sprightly innings of 21 came to a swift end when he prodded at Harbhajan. The ball turned and jumped a little, and he ended up nicking it through to Mahendra Dhoni, who eagerly pouched the catch. Before Marlon Samuels had a chance to play himself in alongside Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the rains came down, and at 3.30pm, the second day’s play was called off. The West Indies will hope for a dry few days if they still have aspirations of a win in this match.

Day 2, St Kitts

West Indies 420-5 (125 overs
Daren Ganga 135, Ramnaresh Sarwan 116, Chris Gayle 83; Munaf Patel 3-120

Cricket Web Player of the Day – Ramnaresh Sarwan, 116 (174 balls, 17×4, 1×6)