WI survive on rain-affected third day

WEST INDIES produced a dogged effort to avoid the follow-on the third day, when rain wrecked the last two sessions.

Resuming the third day precariously perched on 113 for six, West Indies battled to 224 for nine, thanks to left-hander Kyle Mayers who top-scored with 45, all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall who struck 39 and former captain Jason Holder who chipped in with 36. Once Cornwall perished off the final delivery of the fifth over after lunch, the heavens opened and forced players from the field, decimating the remainder of the session.

The weather relented long enough for officials to flirt with a restart half-hour after the scheduled tea interval, but the rains returned shortly thereafter to also rule out any possibility of action in the final session.