Rain has final say in 1st ODI in Guyana; Gayle falls for 4, host reach 54-1 in 13 overs

Aug 09, 2019 Sports

By Sean Devers

Playing for the first time in an International game since the 2002 Test match at Bourda and watched by a fair size working day crowd, the first ODI between India and West Indies was abandoned after morning rain caused a late start at Providence yesterday after which two more caused the game to be called off at 15:12hrs.

Rain had the final say yesterday at Providence.

A section of the disappointed crowd yesterday.

This was India’s first ODI since their heart breaking loss to England in the World Cup Final and despite the inclusion of Chris Gayle West Indies were restricted to 54-1 in 13 overs on a slow track and spongy outfield.
Evin Lewis finished unbeaten on 40 from 36 balls (3×6 2×4), Shai Hope was on six. This was after Gayle, who will be 40 next month needed 11 runs to pass Brian Lara’s 11,934 ODI runs to become the leading West Indian runs scorer in this format, was bowled by Kuldeep Yadav off the inside edge to end his misery at 42-1 in the 11th over. Gayle struggled for 30 balls for his painstaking four.
This was India’s third ever ODI in Guyana; all on different grounds (Guyana is the only place in the West Indies where ODIs were played at three venues) and the first since an unbeaten 152 from Desmond Haynes led West Indies to victory at Bourda in 1989.

Members of the Indian team having a discussion as play was held up.

India won their first game at Albion in 1983 when Sunil Gavaskar fell 10 short of his century. Fifties were compiled by Viv Richards, Jeff Dujon and Guyanese Faoud Bacchus. Yesterday’s win took their ODI record in Guyana to 2-1.
India won the toss and asked the West Indies to bat, Bhuvneshwar Kumar started with a maiden to Gayle in overcast conditions while Mohammed Shami’s opening produced a couple of singles to both openers to third man.
A quick single from Gayle off the last ball of the third over by Kumar was the only run scored as he and fellow Jamaican Evin Lewis were off to cautious starts. Kumar, bowling an impeccable line and length kept the openers in shackles before another shower, at 11:45 with the score on 9-0 off 5.4 overs, sent the players scurrying off the field.
With the rain gone and the sun back out in all of its brilliance, a wet area behind the wicket, to the North of the ground just inside the 30-yards circle, caused a further delay of 85 minutes. This interruption caused the overs to be further reduced to 34 overs per side.
This was the first time that such an incident had occurred at what is widely regarded as one of the fastest drying International grounds in the world and suggest that excellent drainage system was not working as it should.
When play eventually restarted, the struggle to score continued before Lewis swivelled and pulled Kumar over square-leg for six. Khaleel Ahmed was introduced and eased the pressure as Lewis flicked him for four before pulling him for six and thumping him over mid-on for the third boundary in the over which cost 15.
With dark clouds again hovering over the Providence sward, Lewis clipped Ahmed over mid-wicket for six before Gayle’s demise. Hope, with six centuries from 63 ODIs, joined Lewis and at 54-1 before more rain stopped play.
Ironically, as soon as the contest was called off the sun came out in all its brilliance. The teams head to Trinidad for the last two ODIs on August 11 and 14 with the series level nil-all.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES
C Gayle b Kuldeep 4
E Lewis not out 40
+S Hope not out 6
Extras (lb2, w2) 4
TOTAL (1 wkt, 13 overs) 54
Fall of wicket: 1-42 (Gayle, 10.1 overs).
Did not bat: S Hetmyer, N Pooran, R Chase, *J Holder, F Allen, C Brathwaite, K Roach, S Cottrell.
Bowling: Kumar 4-1-11-0, Shami 3-0-5-0, Khaleel Ahmed 3-0-27-0, Kuldeep 2-0-3-1, Jadeja 1-0-6-0.
INDIA – Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Kedar Jadhav, +Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav.
Result: No-result.
Series: Three-match series 0-0.
Toss: India.
Umpires: Nigel Duguid, Adrian Holdstock; TV – Nigel Llong.

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