Two good partnerships at the top of the order gave West Indies A the perfect platform against India A in the second unofficial Test between the two teams. But India A picked up three quick wickets in the final session of the day to claw their way back in the match.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, West Indies A were 243 for 5 when stumps were drawn on day one of the Test at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Shane Dorwich and Raymon Reifer were the two unbeaten batsmen for the hosts at the end of play.
India A made quite a few changes to the team with Shreyas Iyer and Navdeep Saini joining the senior national team in the United States for the Twenty20 series against West Indies.
Shahbaz Nadeem, who took two five-wicket hauls in the first game was dropped as was batsman Shubman Gill and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha. Test opener Mayank Agarwal was drafted into the team though initially he was only picked for the third game, which was to be used as a practice match ahead of the two-match Test series in the Caribbean.
Batsman Anmolpreet Singh was also picked alongside bowler Sandeep Warrier. India pacer Umesh Yadav, who had also flown in alongside Agarwal, was not included.
West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Montcin Hodge shared an 87-run stand and it took a special effort from Sandeep Warrior to break the partnership in the second session. West Indies A were 71 for no loss at Lunch on Wednesday.
Brathwaite was clean bowled by Warrior in the 40th over when he was batting on 36 off 119 balls. That wicket did provide some relief for the Indian bowlers but Hodge built another partnership with No 3 batsman Shamrah Brooks.
India A, who left out Nadeem after his impressive performances, had to toil hard for the second wicket. But the breakthrough arrived only in the 64th over of the day when Mohammed Siraj bowled Hodge for 65. West Indies A were at 149 runs when Hodge departed.
The run-rate picked up after that as the hosts managed 94 runs in the final 25 overs of the day. But they also lost three wickets in those overs including that of set batsman Brooks who was out for 53.
Sunil Ambris became the third wicket to fall as he was trapped in front by spinner Krishnappa Gowtham for 12 runs. Shivam Dube then had Brooks caught and bowled as West Indies slipped to 188 for 4.
They further capitulated when Jermaine Blackwood was caught by India A captain Hanuma Vihari off Mayank Markande’s bowling. West Indies A’s score read 196 for 5.
But Dorwich and Reifer made sure that no more wickets fell as they stitched together an unbeaten 47-run stand before stumps.
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