Providence : Rain played spoilsport as the first One-Day International between India and the West Indies was called off after the home side scored 54 for one in 13 overs here.The stop-start match, which was reduced to 34-over-a-side, was abandoned after a second rain interruption. After waiting for more than an hour and a half, the umpires were forced to call off the match on Thursday.Opener Evin Lewis and Shai Hope were batting on 40 and 6 respectively when the match was called off after Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and asked the West Indies to bat.The other opener Chris Gayle was out in the 11th over after scoring 4 off 31 deliveries in an agonisingly slow knock. He had come into the match 12 runs short of Brian Lara’s 10,405 ODI runs, the most by a West Indies batsman.The match was already reduced to 43-over-a side contest even before a ball was bowled as wet outfield due to rains had forced the toss to be delayed. The match began two hours later from its scheduled start.The home side had scored 9 for no loss in 5.4 overs at the first rain break. The match was about to be resumed 30 minutes later but wet area near the bowlers’ run-up led to another delay of more than half an hour.The umpires made another inspection and after more than an hour’s interruption, the match resumed for a 34-over-a-side affair.Kuldeep gave India the breakthrough as he dismissed dangerman Gayle who dragged the ball onto his stumps. Hope came in two overs later, but rains also came back to force the players to the dressing room once again.The second one-dayer will be played in Port of Spain on Sunday.
‘Start-stop match worst thing’
Start-stop matches are the “worst” thing in cricket and can lead to injuries, a frustrated India skipper Virat Kohli said after their series-opener was washed out on Thursday.“It’s probably the worst thing in cricket, the start-stop game. The more stops you have, the more you have to be careful about injuries on the field. Some of the pitches can really test you,” Kohli said after the match was called off.Asked about the challenges of playing in the Caribbean, Kohli said while “some pitches offer good pace and bounce, others could be on the slower side”. “So you have to assess them and play accordingly,” the Indian captain said.
