Skipper Jason Holder and coach Phil Simmons put the men on defence - understandable considering the opposition had a fat lead.

Their best efforts have taken the second Test to a point where the weather can threaten what once looked like a certain victory for India. A tropical storm was expected to hit the region on the fourth day with India declaring 304 runs ahead and West Indies yet to bat in the second innings. India's response to West Indies' 196 all out was 500 for nine.

Ajinkya Rahane (108 not out) found himself part of a pattern, one that has been central to India's success on this tour of the Caribbean. India has batted eleven and a half sessions in this series. And a set batsman had been out there most of the time. Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and R Ashwin began the trend in Antigua.

It continued with Lokesh Rahul on day two and Rahane on day three, who went on to score his seventh Test hundred. This is the eighth straight series that he has managed a score of at least 90. India was not panicking about the weather.

The mountains on the horizon were obscured by heavy clouds. The rain break came ten overs after lunch and took 52 minutes out of the game. Off-spinning allrounder Roston Chase (5-121) took two wickets in two balls and had India eight down soon after play resumed.

The run-scoring stayed sedate. Kohli, sipping a hot beverage in the dressing room, was still in his training gear. He was clearly not thinking about the declaration.

Perhaps Rahane approaching a Test century away from home had something to do with that. And with only No 10 and No 11 for company, he began to farm the strike. This was where West Indies' discipline paid off.

It had given away only 142 runs in 46.1 overs. It made India bat long for a lead it liked. Rahane squirted an outside edge between slip and the wicketkeeper in the 170th over to reach his third hundred in four innings, captured on camera by the coach Anil Kumble and celebrated vigorously by his teammates.

The locals at Sabina Park had something to cheer, too, when Chase induced a top edge from Umesh Yadav (19) to wrap up his first five-for in his second Test. With a high-arm action resembling that of Nathan Lyon, he got the ball to dip and bounce.

Earlier, Amit Mishra (21) failed to get to the pitch of one and was caught at short leg. Seconds later, Mohammed Shami (0) was bowled playing down the wrong line. Chase wore a sheepish grin on day two when he conceded that he didn't like going without a wicket on debut. Now he was leading his team off.

Cricinfo