England’s hopes of clinching a series victory over West Indies suffered a significant blow after day four of the third Test at Old Trafford was washed out by rain.
The three-match series is tied at one apiece, with the tourists having won the opener at the Ageas Bowl before England hit back in Manchester last week.
England have so far dominated the decider and, knowing of the forecast to come, had hastily set about building a sizeable second innings lead to tee-up a declaration on 226-for-two on the evening of day three, leaving West Indies chasing an unlikely 399 for victory.
The hosts looked well on course after Stuart Broad moved to 499 career Test wickets in reducing the Windies to 10-2 late on Sunday.
However, the intervention of the weather saw any hopes of play on Monday abandoned shortly after 4pm and means Joe Root’s men will have to claim eight wickets on day five – which may yet be rain affected - in order to claim a 2-1 series win.
As the current holders, West Indies know they will retain the Wisden Trophy if they can bat through the final day to claim a draw, a cause potentially aided by the fact that one of their two wickets to fall on Sunday was that of night-watchman Kemar Roach.
