Port of Spain, Jul 24 (IANS): The start of day five’s play in the second Test between the West Indies and India has been delayed due to heavy rain at the Queen's Park Oval on Monday.

The proceedings for the final day of the Test series were to begin 30 minutes earlier than the usual start time due to overs lost on days three and four due to previous rain disruptions.

West Indies were to resume from an overnight score of 76/2 in their second innings after being set a target of 365 for victory by India. But with heavy rain and overcast conditions greeting the two teams, they were forced to be indoors as visuals showed puddles of water on the covers with the grass on-field seeming to be very, very damp.

With the forecast showing that rain will continue for a few hours, the possibility for an outright result in favour of either India or the West Indies has reduced significantly. India are currently leading the two-game series 1-0 after defeating West Indies by innings and 141 runs triumph in the first Test at Dominica within three days.

India would be hoping for the probability of playing a full session on rain-hit Day Five for their bowlers to claim the remaining eight wickets needed for pocketing 12 more points to add more to their glowing start to the 2023-25 World Test Championship style. But the more the rain, the bleaker the chances go for an Indian victory in what is the 100th Test match between them and West Indies.

Brief scores:

India 438 & 181/2 decl. lead West Indies 255 & 76/2 in 32 overs (Kraigg Brathwaite 28; Ravichandran Ashwin 2-33) by 289 runs.