Day 3 called off without being a ball being bowled
Jan 9, 2019 at 4:13 PM
The third day of the third Test match was called off due to heavy and consistent rainfall in St Lucia. There was a glimpse of rainfall yesterday itself but as the time progressed, the rainfall got much heavier. Heavy thunderbolt and lightning also marked their presence yesterday and today.
There were indications of no play from today morning itself as there were heavy showers in the morning which continued whole day. Due to lightning and thunderbolt, there was zero visibility during the early morning. Soon as the day progressed, the visibility improved but there was no change in weather. Though rain stopped for a while, only to make a heavy comeback after few minutes.
The playing area was badly affected by consistent rain as damp patches were visible on the ground. The ground staff did its best so as to make ground fit for play but could not do it as rain was never out of the game for a longer period. It always went away only to come back.
Heavy rain also delayed the arrival of the Indian team at the ground as the team left the team’s hotel after a delay of few hours. They straight away went into the dressing room after reaching the ground where they got some Indian food which they ordered from a local Indian restaurant.
The third-day washout reminded us of Day 4 of the second Test match which was also interrupted due to rain. Only 15 overs were bowled that day due to rain but today case was little different as no play was possible today.
Rain has surely increased concerns for both the teams as Indian team was aiming to wrap the Windies innings today and get lead of few runs so as to get bat again and have enough time to dismiss the hosts once again whereas the home side might’ve planned to bat for 2 days so as to get lead of 250-300 which might be enough score for fourth innings. Both the teams will now bring about a change in their strategies and there are fair chances of this match ending in a draw as Indian bowlers were totally ineffective yesterday and West indies batsmen are in no mood to give up.
The West Indies team trail by a margin of 246 runs and they need at least 80-100 overs to get beyond this trail. Now due to this wash out there are heavy chances of a draw in the end which will have an impact on ranking of team India in ICC points table. Team India needs to win this series by a margin of 3-0 to climb up to the first position.
Play will start half an hour earlier and a total of 98 over will be bowled tomorrow.