BASSETERRE (St Kitts), June 22: West Indies won the toss and chose to bat on the rain-affected opening day of the third Test against India at Warner Park on Thursday.

The West Indians made one change to their side, with batsman Marlon Samuels replacing left-arm medium-fast bowler Ian Bradshaw.

India brought Harbhajan Singh and Shantha Sreesanth into their 11 for Irfan Pathan and Vikram Singh.

Not a ball was bowled before lunch, which was taken 10 minutes earlier than scheduled, after overnight and early morning showers drenched the outfield and left several areas close to the boundaries sodden.

After a series of inspections during the morning, umpires Rudi Koertzen and Brian Jerling indicated that play would commence at 1630 GMT about two and a half hours later than scheduled.

The weather outlook for the island stated: “Variable clouds with a chance of showers... Chance of rain 30 per cent.”

The four-Test series is still level at 0-0, after the first two Tests at the Antigua Recreation Ground and the Beausejour Cricket Ground ended in tense draws.

The series concludes at Kingston's Sabina Park from June 30 to July 4.

Teams:

West Indies: Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin, Pedro Collins, Jerome Taylor, Corey Collymore.

India: Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, Yuvraj Singh, Vangipurappu Laxman, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Shantha Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen and Brian Jerling (both South Africa).

TV umpire: Clancy Mack (West Indiers).

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).—AFP