Cricket Highlights, 25 July: West Indies vs India (2nd Test)

West Indies vs India (2nd Test)

Storms and rains were predicted in advance, and it happened. Not a single ball was bowled on the final day of the India-West Indies second Test. This rain has been a blessing for the West Indies. Rain saved Kraigg Brathwaite’s team after losing by an innings in the first Test.

Although West Indies performed better than Dominica in this test. India needed 8 wickets and West Indies needed 289 runs to win on the final day of the second Test at Queen’s Park Oval. That is difficult for any team to do on the final day of a Test and even more difficult for an off-form side like the West Indies.  

India won the series 1-0 with a win in Dominica Test. This is India’s fifth consecutive Test series win on West Indies soil. However, regret may have remained for India even after winning the series. Because the series is under the World Test Championship, it is natural for them to regret losing points as they had to share them as a result of the draw.

West Indies captain Braithwaite won the toss and decided to bowl first on a dry wicket in Port of Spain. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal started the second Test as they did in the first Test against the Caribbeans. The two made an impeccable partnership of 139 runs. 

Jaiswal was dismissed by Jason Holder at the start of the second session. He scored 57 runs off 74 balls. Rohit was slowly moving towards the century. But he also got out for 80 runs. Shubman Gill again failed to score well coming to bat at number three. He got out for 10 runs after punching Roach’s ball. Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed for 8 runs just before the tea break. As a result, India lost four wickets for just 42 runs.

After that, the responsibility of taking the team’s run forward fell on the shoulders of Virat Kohli. He took time in the beginning. His first run came off the 22nd ball. He was playing the ball without any haste. Ravindra Jadeja accompanied him nicely. Two batters tried to make a big pair. In the third session, the Caribbean bowlers bowled a bit more randomly. Kohli and Jadeja used it playing brilliantly.  

As a result, Kohli scored a century to play the 500th international match of his career. That was the 29th century of his Test career. Jadeja returned to the dugout with 61 off 152 balls. On the other hand, Kohli scored 121 runs off 206 balls with the help of 11 boundaries. In the end, visiting India piled up a big score of 438 runs courtesy of Ishan Kishan’s 25 and Ashwin’s 56 runs.

Kemar Roach and Jomel Warrican took the maximum number of 3 wickets each for the hosts West Indies. Besides, Jason Holder picked up 2 wickets and Shannon Gabriel got 1 wicket.

In response, the host West Indies were bowled out for 255 runs. Where pacer Mohammed Siraj played a key role for the visiting team. The Caribbeans could not increase the score due to his fifer. Captain Brathwaite scored 75 runs for the team. Apart from this, Alick Athanaze 37, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 33, and Kirk McKenzie returned with 32 runs.  

Apart from Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja and Mukesh Kumar got 2 wickets each for the Indian team and Ravichandran Ashwin picked up 1 wicket.

Taking a lead of 183 runs, India declared their second innings scoring 181 runs. The target for victory in front of the Caribbean stood at 365 runs as a result of that. Jaiswal scored 38 runs. Rohit scored 57 runs off 44 balls. Shubman remained unbeaten on 29 runs off 37 balls. Ishan Kishan stood unbeaten with 52 runs off 34 balls.

In the late afternoon of the fourth day, the West Indies lost 2 wickets to bat for the target of 365 runs. Brathwaite was out for 28 and McKenzie was out for zero runs. Chanderpaul was batting with 24 runs and Jermaine Blackwood scored 20 runs. On the fifth day, both teams appeared on the field, but the game could not be started due to rain.

Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj was named player of the match as he snapped 5 wickets for 60 runs in the first innings of the second test. And Ravichandran Ashwin was selected as player of the series scalping 15 wickets in the series.

West Indies vs India Scoreboard

India (1st Innings) – 438/10 (128.0)

West Indies (1st Innings) – 255/10 (115.4)

India (1st Innings) – 181/2 (D) (24.0)

West Indies (2nd Innings) – 76/2 (32.0)

Result – Match Drawn

Player of the match – Mohammed Siraj

Player of the series – Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin

West Indies vs India Playing Xis