Sir Don Bradman’s equalling Test hundred by Virat Kohli has put India in a strong position on Day 2 of the second Port of Spain Test here on Friday.
India folded their first innings at 438 runs, and in reply West Indies reached 86/1 at the close of play with Kraigg Brathwaite and Kirk McKenzine batting on 37 and 14, respectively.
It was a great relief for Kohli, who ended the wait for his first away Test hundred since December 2018 and stitched a 159 runs fifth wicket partnership with Ravindra Jadeja to restore India’s innings from 182/4 to 341/5.
Kohli-Jadeja partnership ended when Kohli tried stealing a run, but Alzarri Joseph was on the dot, shattering the timbers at the striker’s end off a direct throw.
Jadeja also followed suit as he was caught behind with DRS help while trying for an expansive drive off Kemar Roach. Despite the wickets, India made 85 runs at a run rate of over 3.5.
Ishan Kishan batted with a positive mindset by smashing a couple of boundaries off spinner Jomel Warrican.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s 56 helped India race past the 400 runs mark in the post-lunch session, despite having to bat with the lower order batsmen. However, the Windies wrapped up the last four wickets for 45 runs.
Kishan was lucky to have survived when McKenzie failed to latch on to a very tough opportunity, but could not take advantage of it as he lost his wicket the very next ball, caught behind.
Ashwin overturned a leg-before decision off Warrican by using the DRS, which he used as an opportunity to get some runs and sewed a 23-run stand between Ashwin and Jaydev Unadkat, before the latter was stumped off Warrican.
Soon after, Mohammad Siraj was trapped in front with the Windies using the DRS successfully. But India chose to review it with the ball seemingly hitting Siraj’s front pad first which could have resulted in the decision being overturned, but the original decision was upheld for the second time.
With No.11 Mukesh at the crease, Ashwin creamed a flurry of boundaries to reach his fifty with No.11 Mukesh at the other end. The former became the last victim as Roach picked up three along with Warrican.
In reply, Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul weaved a 71 runs opening partnership, before India tasted first blood. Chanderpaul was picked up by Jadeja and caught by Ashwin.
However, Brathwaite and Kirk McKenzie ensured that they did not lose their wickets, and at the end of Day 2 West Indies were trailing India by 352 runs.
Brief scores: India 438 (Virat Kohli 121, Rohit Sharma 80, Ravindra Jadeja 61, Yashasvi Jaiswal 57, R Ashwin 56; Jomel Warrican 3-89, Kemar Roach 3-104) lead West Indies 86/1 (Kraigg Brathwaite 37*, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 33; Ravindra Jadeja 1-12) by 352 runs.a
