There was a 20-over period on Day 1 of the second Test between West Indies and India on Saturday when the home crowd dared to believe. Jermaine Blackwood and Marlon Samuels had come together for the fourth wicket and were taking the attack to the Indian bowlers. It was the kind of dominance that you don't normally associate with the West Indies in Test cricket. Unfortunately for the hosts, the 81-run partnership was sandwiched between a continuous fall of wickets, deeming the stand almost inconsequential in the larger scheme of things.
West Indies skipper Jason Holder surprised a few people by opting to bat on a surface that had a good covering of live grass. His Indian counterpart, Virat Kohli, was more than happy, saying he would have bowled too had he won the toss. Holder said it was about negotiating the initial help provided by the pitch to the bowlers, after which it would flatten out. While he was right about the second bit, unfortunately, his team could not execute the first part.
Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami, who shared the new ball, made merry in helpful conditions and reduced the hosts to 7/3, before Samuels and Blackwood came together. Twenty overs later, they looked to be taking the game away from the Indians, before Ravichandran Ashwin took the first of his five wickets, trapping Blackwood in front for a well-made 62. Blackwood's wicket sparked another collapse, as the West Indies fell from 88/3 to 158/9. Another stubborn and counter-attacking stand, for the last wicket between Miguel Cummins and Shannon Gabriel took the Windies to a comparably respectable 196.
Ashwin was the star yet again for India. He took the spotlight off the seamers and recorded his second five-wicket haul of the series and 18th overall. He also became the third Indian spinner to take five-wicket hauls in four successive Tests, after Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Anil Kumble, according to PTI. This took his career wickets tally to 188 and there's a good chance he'll reach his double century in the series at the rate he's going.
As India came out to bat in the post-tea session, the pitch had eased out and looked good for batting. The tourists happily cashed in, with KL Rahul, who got a chance to play after Murali Vijay was ruled out of the match at the last moment with an injury, scoring an unbeaten half-century. Shikhar Dhawan was the only Indian wicket to fall till close of play, with the score at 126/1 and the visitors trailing by just 70 runs. Rahul's innings of 75 not out off 114 balls included 10 boundaries and he looks good for a third Test century, which would not make India's dilemma for selecting opening partners any easier once Vijay is fit again.
Brief scores:
West Indies 196 (Jermaine Blackwood 62, Marlon Samuels 37; R Ashwin 5/52, Ishant Sharma 2/53, Mohammed Shami 2/23) lead India 126/1 (KL Rahul 75*; Roston Chase 1/28) by 70 runs.
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