WI v IND, 3rd Test, Day 2 Review: West Indies take control

If the Indians had a scare on the first Day’s play of the third Test, Day two only went on to confirm their fears. Shortly after adding slightly over a hundred runs, the Indians were bowled out by a fiery West Indies pace attack. However, the West Indies went on to prove that they are anything but a side that rolls over by putting up a strong resistance against a good Indian seam bowling attack.

The start of Day two saw Ravi Ashwin and wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha reach their initial and personal milestones. While Saha reached his half-century, history was made when Ravi Ashwin reached yet another ton. This became Ashwin’s fourth ton against the mighty West Indies, something he will be sure to add to as his newly founded batting career comes along. The duo began to stitch an important partnership in the grand scheme of things as the Indians were spared of their blushes.

A few short minutes later, Wriddhiman Saha too completed his ton, his first ever in international Test cricket. However, despite this, the partnership was broken as Ashwin was dismissed after a valiant 118 when he was snapped up by Miguel Cummins. Saha’s dismissal, a peach of a delivery from Alzarri Joseph quite effectively went on to trigger the collapse. They managed just 14 runs after the dismissals of the centurions as the Indians were bowled out for 353.

While the Indians would have certainly been hoping to bowl out the West Indies cheaply, it was clear that they were not just going to roll over in a similar fashion as they had in the previous Test matches. However, the fact that they were now on the brink of perhaps even squaring the series, seemed somewhat of a dim possibility.

Also Read – The way people saw Virat was completely different: R Ashwin

Kraigg Brathwaite began his innings with the solidity that was indeed expected from him. Leon Johnson, the much-anticipated change for Rajendra Chandrika made his way into the side and proved to be a fantastic foil for the settled opener Brathwaite. The duo, for the first time in the series, managed to stitch a partnership in excess of 50 runs. They smashed their way to a wonderfully compiled 59 before a suicidal run out courtesy of some brilliance from KL Rahul saw Leon Johnson head back to the haven of the pavilion.

However, the fact that Darren Bravo proved to be solid enough to remain unbeaten on 18 at the end of the day showcased the hard work put in by the Windies in preparation for this match. An important milestone was reached when Kraigg Brathwaite reached a well-deserved half-century. Moreover, the fact that he also remained unbeaten on the day once more showed the West Indies batting solidity, something that has been missing for some time now. At the close of play, the Windies were 107/1, 246 runs adrift of the Indian total.

Brief Scores:

India, 1st innings: 353 all out (R Ashwin 118; M Cummins 3/54)

West Indies, 1st innings: 107/1 (K Brathwaite 53*)

Watch: Day-2 highlights of 3rd Test:

https://youtu.be/aB9voybr1BI?t=1s

Also Read – Sanjay Bangar praises Ashwin for ‘brilliant’ batting skills