India vs West Indies T20I: Of delayed starts, rains, and lack of Super-soppers

Fort Lauderdale: India looked in good state to level the T20 International series 1-1 against West Indies, but the weather Gods had different Ideas, as rain poured down at the Central Broward Regional Park in Fort Lauderdale, on Sunday.

MS Dhoni’s men had put in a much better bowling performance against West Indies on Sunday, restricting them to a total of 143. The spinners did the trick for the Indians, with Amit Mishra (three) and R Ashwin (two) taking half of the wickets.

The match seemed to be completely in India's hands, at this point. However, the rains poured down on the Central Broward Regional Park, just two overs into the Indian innings; the minimum number of overs required for the Duckworth-Lewis method to come into effect is five.

While the rain stopped a little later, the outfields were deemed too wet for play to continue. Moreover, there was no Super-Sopper at the Central Broward Regional Park, resulting in the match being called off.

Ironically though, the match was delayed by 40 minutes at the start, due to "technical" problems.

Teams

India: Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Lokesh Rahul, MS Dhoni(Captain and wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

West Indies: Johnson Charles, Evin Lewis, Andre Fletcher(Wicketkeeper), Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Carlos Brathwaite(Captain), Sunil Narine, Samuel Badree.

Team India look all set for their second T20I against the West Indies in Fort Lauderdale.

India have won the toss, and have elected to field first. Dhoni seems to be relying on his batsmen to chase down a big score in pressure situations.

Indian Innings:

The umpires have come out on to inspect the outfield. But we are yet to receive word on whether the match will restart soon.

India 15/0 from 2 overs: And the rains have stopped play at the Central Broward Regional Park. At least 5 overs of the Indian innings must be played, for us to get a result today.

2nd over: India15/0 (R Sharma 10, KL Rahul 4)

The Indians are playing it smart here. They're running their 2s and 1s hard, to keep the scoreboard ticking.

1st over: India 8/0 (R Sharma 7, KL Rahul 0)

Sharma opens the books for India with a SIX! Good start for India in their first over.

India now need 144 runs from 20 overs, to win the match. Required run rate: 7.2 runs per over.

A much better performance by the Indian bowlers today, as they restricted the West Indies to just 143 runs. What has been more morale-boosting for the Indian bowling attack is that they have been able to bowl the Windies out within 20 overs.

West Indies Innings:

WICKET! 20th over: WI 143/10

Shami steams in for the last over, but Narine connects sweetly with the ball to hit a SIX over long on. However, the Indian pacer finishes off the West Indies innings, as his yorker knocks into Badree's stumps.

19th over: WI 136/9 (Narine 2, Badree 1)

Bumrah completes his quota of 4 overs with another brilliant yorker. He gave away just 26 runs today.

18th Over: 133/9

WICKET! Brathwaite 18 (10)

Mishra picks up his third wicket of the match, as he hits Brathwaite's stumps again.

17th over: WI 123/7 (Russell 13, Brathwaite 8)

WICKET! Russell 13 ()! Bumrah picks up another important wicket. Russell edges a big shot to long on, where Kohli gleefully took the catch.

16th over: WI 113/7 (Russell 10, Brathwaite 1)

The Indian spinners are doing the trick today. Mishra gives away just three runs from the over, and takes a wicket as well.

WICKET! Bravo 3 (6)

Bravo dances down the track, but completely misses the flight of Mishra's ball, which goes on to hit the middle stump.

15th over: WI 110/6 (Russell 10, Bravo 3)

Great competition between Bumrah and Russell! The Windies batsman clobbers Bumrah out of the park, but the Indian comes back with an inch-perfect yorker.

14th over: WI 102/6 (Russell 3, Bravo 2)

Ashwin is having a great day out on the field today. Bowls another great over, giving away just six runs.

13th over: WI 98/6 (Fletcher 3, Russell 1)

WICKET! Fletcher 3 (9)! Another great over for India. Bumrah kept the Windies guessing with his unorthodox action. Gets Fletcher with a fine yorker on the base of the off stump.

12th over: WI 92/5 (Fletcher 2, Russell 0)

Another good over by Ashwin. Pollard's wicket will be important for India.

Wicket! Pollard 13 (8)

Ashwin's delivery catches Pollard plumb on the back foot. Looked a straightforward decision for the umpire, but height might have been an issue.

11th over: WI 89/4 (Fletcher 0, Pollard 12)

Pollard is getting into the act! Brilliantly flicks the last ball for a huge six.

WICKET! Samuels 5 (10)

Bumrah into the attack, and he gets a wicket straight away. Simple catch behind the stumps for Dhoni.

10th over: WI 76/3 (Samuels 3, Fletcher)

Another good over by India. Ashwin is bowling a little shorter today, and nthat has worked perfectly. 4 and a wicket from that over.

WICKET! Simmons 19(19)

Ashwin saw Simmons dancing down the track, and sent it wide, outside the leg stump. Dhoni didn't need his lightning reflexes, as Simmons slipped too far off from the pitch.

9th over: WI 72/2 (Samuels 3, Simmons 18)

Simmons is trying to get the scoreboard ticking. Scored two boundaries in the first two balls. But Jadeja put a lid on the scoring in the last four deliveries. 10 off that over.

8th over: WI 62/2 (Samuels 2, Simmons 9)

Simmons has finally hit a boundary, but Mishra has kept things tight in his second over as well. Huge LBW shout in the last ball, but the ball struck Samuels' pad outside the off stump.

7th over: WI 55/2 (Samuels 1, Simmons 3)

Spin in full tandem! Dhoni's introduction of spinners has worked wonders. Jadeja gives away just 1 run in his first over.

6th over: WI 54/2 (Samuels 1, Simmons 2)

Brilliant over by Mishra! Took the important wicket of Charles, and gave away just four runs.

WICKET! CHARLES 43 (25)

The danger man is gone! India's bowling change has worked perfectly, as Mishra takes his first wicket of the match. Rahane with the catch.

5rd over: WI 50/1 (Charles 43, Samuels 7)

Dhoni and Kohli's emergency meeting with Bhuvneshwar doesn't seem to have worked. Charles is still hitting him all over the place, as 50 comes up for the Windies.

4rd over: WI 39/1 (Charles 32, Samuels 0)

Shami may have taken Lewis' wicket, but Charles has found his blistering form from last night, hitting the Indian pacer all over the park.

WICKET! Lewis 7 (6)

Shami strikes first for India! The short ball tactic seems to have worked, as Lewis mis-times his pull. Amit Mishra with the catch

3rd over: WI 24/0 (Charles 17, Lewis 7)

India have come out with a gameplan to bowl shorter, but Charles has quickly adapted to this, hitting Bhuvneshwar for the first SIX of the match. However, the Indian bowler comes back with three dot balls to end the over.

2nd over: WI 16/0 (Charles 9, Lewis 7)

The Windies are picking up their pace. 9 runs off the Shami over. Amit Mishra put in a couple of brilliant fielding efforts to limit the West Indian batsmen.

1st over: WI 7/0 (Charles 5, Lewis 2)

A comparatively slow start by the West Indies. Bhuvneshwar kept things tight in that over. Charles did manage to hit one boundary though.