India's cricket board Saturday announced the resumption of bilateral cricketing ties with the West Indies, saying its team will travel to the Caribbean for a Test series later this year. "The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and the WICB (West Indies Cricket Board) have resolved outstanding issues arising out of the abandonment of the tour of the West Indies team to India in 2014," the BCCI said in a statement released to the media. "With this understanding, bilateral series as part of the Future Tours Program will be resumed with the Indian cricket team touring the West Indies in July-August, 2016 for a four match Test series," it added. Earlier this month India's board dropped a $42 million damages claim against the West Indies over the abandoned 2014 tour after the team agreed to return to play in India next year. The huge damages claim lodged by the BCCI had threatened to cripple the cash-strapped West Indies, which has been at loggerheads with its own players. "BCCI is happy to resume their bilateral ties with the WICB," Anurag Thakur, BCCI's Honorary Secretary, said in the statement. The West Indies players flew home from India in October 2014 when a long-running pay dispute came to a head in the middle of the tour. The two teams had been due to play five ODIs, three Test matches and a T20 international, but the tourists refused to play on after the first four ODIs, with captain Dwayne Bravo leading a revolt by the players. Bravo was subsequently sacked as skipper and has since been an outspoken critic of the West Indies board. After captaining the West Indies to victory in the final of the World Twenty20 in Kolkata earlier this month, Darren Sammy took a swipe at the governing body over what he said was a lack of support for the players. The board slapped Sammy down but also announced plans for talks with senior players, many of whom have not played Test cricket since 2014, turning out instead in lucrative domestic T20 tournaments. Delhi eases to victory over Kolkata In Delhi, Young batsman Karun Nair and debutant Sam Billings batted with a lot of responsibility before their bowlers came good as Delhi Daredevils displaced Kolkata Knight Riders from the second spot with a comfortable 27-run win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Saturday. The host overcame loss of two wickets in the first over to post a challenging 186 for eight after being invited to bat and skittled out the visitors for 159 with nine balls to spare. Thanks to fighting half centuries by Nair (68 off 50 balls) and Billings (54 off 34 balls) combined with Carlos Brathwaite's (34 off 11) finishing touches, Daredevils' innings shaped well as they registered their best total against KKR. It was first defeat for Kolkata in this tournament while chasing as except opener Robin Uthappa (72 off 52) no other batsman showed resistance. Brief scores: Delhi Daredevils 186 for 8 (Nair 68, Billings 54, Brathwaite 34; Russell 3-26, Umesh 3-33) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 159 (Uthappa 72; Zaheer 3-21, Brathwaite 3-47) by 27 runs.
