Bridgetown (Barbados), June 30 (IANS) Intermittent showers delayed India's hopes of taking a first innings lead even as Ishant Sharma snared two wickets on a rain-depleted second day to leave the West Indies struggling at 98 for five at stumps here Wednesday.

The lanky Sharma, who finished with three for 31, made the most of the bounce and pace from the moist Kensington Oval track and struck twice in the sixth over to remove night-watchman Devendra Bishoo (13) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (18) as West Indies slumped to 57 for five after resuming at overnight 30 for three.

But Shivnarine Chanderpaul (20 not out) and Marlon Samuels (21 not out) dug in either side of lunch with their 41-run stand as West Indies finished the day at 98 for five, still 103 runs short of India's first innings score of 201.

They duo prevented any further damage and watched the rains washed away much of the afternoon session and the entire evening session. Even after a delayed start due to rain just 25.3 overs were possible.

Both the overnight batsmen looked uncomfortable on a lively track, made worse by the showers. Bishoo was the first to depart edging Sharma to Virat Kohli at gully, and Sarwan was trapped leg before by a full delivery which he played all round.

Chanderpaul then joined forces with Samuels to keep the Indians bowlers at bay. The veteran Chanderpaul, who joined the former world-record wicket-taker Courtney Walsh as the most capped West Indies player with 132 Tests, looked in ho hurry and compiled a boundary-free 20 not out off 63 balls.

The only rare moment of aggression came from Samuels, who smashed the final ball for four, a long hop from Harbhajan Singh.

The pace of the match slowed further after the lunch due to rain interruption, with just 16 runs scored in 8.3 overs. Heavy rains prompted the teams to take an early tea and ultimately the end of the day's proceedings. India lead the three-Test series 1-0.