KINGSTON, Jamaica — Play is set to resume 2:45 pm on Thursday in the fourth-round West Indies four-day cricket match between Jamaica Scorpions and Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at Sabina Park.

Only 20 minutes of play was possible because the pitch was deemed unsafe for batting due to several balls bouncing steeply.

This morning, the Scorpions won the toss and sent the Red Force to bat first in sunny conditions on a surface with live grass.

However, play was halted at 10:20 am due to complaints about the pitch.

Both openers Kyle Hope (two) and left-hander Jeremy Solozano (11) went caught to pace bowler Oshane Thomas while playing at short deliveries outside the off stump.

But play was stopped with the Red Force on 23-2 when the umpires heeded calls from the batsmen that the bounce was too steep. The not out batsmen are left-hander Darren Bravo, on six not out, Jason Mohammed, who is yet to face a ball.

There was an inspection by match officials at 11:20 am after which ground staff did some work on the surface. Another inspection was carried out at 12:50 pm.

Information reaching the OBSERVER ONLINE is that there were damp areas on the pitch which might have caused some balls to behave uncharacteristically.

After allowing approximately four hours of sun-drying during the interruption, a light roller was used on the surface just minutes ago.

The previous cricket match at Sabina Park ended on Monday, with no complaint about dangerous bounce on that pitch. However, the ground staff had only Tuesday and Wednesday to finalise preparation on an adjacent strip being used for the current match.

Both teams are rooted at the foot of the six-team league table.

The Red Force are fifth with 10.2 points, while the Scorpions are last with 9.8.

Teams:

Scorpions- Paul Palmer (captain), Assad Fudadin, Reynard Leveridge, Andre McCarthy, Nikita Miller, Rovman Powell, Aldaine Thomas, Oshane Thomas, Chadwick Walton, Kenroy Williams, Oraine Williams.

Red Force- Denesh Ramdin (captain), Darren Bravo, Yannic Cariah, Kyle Hope, Imran Khan, Jason Mohammed, Anderson Phillip, Khary Pierre, Odean Smith, Jeremy Solozano, Daniel St Clair. Sanjay Myers