Rain halts Samuels charge

Only 40 minutes’ play was possible at the National Stadium with 22 runs added off 8.5 overs shared between seamers Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan.

St. George’s — Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin made cautious progress through a rain-shortened morning as the West Indies reached 210 for five at lunch on the second day of the second Test against England on Wednesday.

Only 40 minutes’ play was possible at the National Stadium with 22 runs added off 8.5 overs shared between seamers Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan.

Within sight of a seventh Test hundred in his 100th innings, Samuels curbed the aggression which saw him dominate the final session on the first day. He added just three to his overnight score and will resume on 97 alongside skipper Ramdin, who is on 24 having been by far the more positive of the two batsmen in conditions which again assisted the medium-pacers.

Dropped on 32 by England captain Alastair Cook at slip off Jordan on the first afternoon, Samuels was greeted with a concerted appeal for a leg-side catch by Jos Buttler off the very first delivery of the day from Stokes.

With the wicketkeeper apparently insistent that the ball had touched the bat, Cook challenged the not out verdict from on-field umpire Steve Davis only for the decision to be upheld as a review of the television replays showed no clear evidence to warrant a reversal of the original ruling.

While the senior batsman of the pairing struggled to get his innings back into gear, Ramdin was just on the point of further acceleration when the rains came, a classic straight-drive off Stokes being his fourth boundary of the brief period of play.

It was the last piece of action before the players scampered to the pavilion as the showers swept over the ground with increasing intensity.