West Indies were denied a chance of earning a drawn series when rain forced an abandonment of the final ODI against India yesterday.

West Indies had reached 27 for one from 7.3 overs after India won the toss and chose to field before a heavy shower at the Beausejour Cricket Ground forced a lengthy stoppage.

Though the rain stopped later, too much water had settled on the outfield, and umpires Clive Duncan and Nigel Llong decided to call it quits after waiting about two hours.

The outcome meant that West Indies lost the four-match series 1-2 after India won the first ODI by 20 runs. They secured an eight-wicket victory in the second ODI and India won by six wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis Method in the third ODI.

Outfield saturated

Play had started an hour later than scheduled, following overnight and morning rain which left parts of the outfield saturated, and water from the covers seeped on to the pitch.

West Indies were set back immediately when Chris Gayle was caught behind for a duck off the second ball of the match from Ishant Sharma. Gayle's dismissal meant West Indies struggled to gain early momentum against tight bowling from Sharma and new-ball partner Ashish Nehra.

Ramnaresh Sarwan joined Runako Morton, and tried to get West Indies out from under the burden. They were just getting into the thick of things when the rain came down and brought an early close.

This is the fifth straight ODI series loss for West Indies, following a 0-3 defeat to Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, 1-2 loss in New Zealand, 2-3 defeat at home to England and 0-2 defeat on the road against the same opponents.

West Indies will now get down to business in a home series against Bangladesh which features two Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 international.