WI start strong after Kohli anchors India to massive total

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Captain Kraigg Brathwaite and fellow opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul helped West Indies end a productive day strongly after Virat Kohli hit his 29th Test hundred and India forged ahead in the second Test on Friday in Trinidad.

Brathwaite was not out on 37, but Chanderpaul fell for 33 inside the final half-hour, and the Caribbean side reached 86 for one in their first innings and were trailing by 352 at the close on the second day of the 100th Test between the two teams at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.

West Indies continued to bowl with purpose when India resumed from their overnight total of 288 for four.

Kohli made 121, his first hundred away from home in five years, and Ravendra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin added half-centuries before the visitors were bowled out for 438 in their first innings about 15 minutes before the scheduled tea break.

Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican grabbed two of the last four wickets and was the pick of the Caribbean side’s bowlers, ending with three for 89 from 39 overs and enabling the hosts to bring their long stay in the field to an end.

Long-serving pacer Kemar Roach supported with three for 104 from 22 overs, and fellow pace bowling compatriot Jason Holder finished with two for 57 from 21 overs, and West Indies grabbed the last four Indian wickets for 43 in the span of 85 balls.

The Caribbean side started their reply after the break, and Chanderpaul and Brathwaite absorbed the early pressure from India’s pacers, taking advantage of the hard, easy-paced playing surface, like the batsmen on the opposing side, and set a stable foundation.

They hardly placed a foot wrong and had the bowling at their mercy until Jadeja, bowling his left-arm spin, got Chanderpaul caught at backward point, essaying an ill-advised lofted drive.

It brought debutant fellow left-hander Kirk McKenzie, not out on 14, to the crease and he batted almost half-hour until stumps were drawn, hitting a couple of confident strokes, including a languid lofted drive over long-off for six off Ashwin’s off-spin.

The home team will be hoping he can continue in a similar vein, and they can build upon the early work of Brathwaite and Chanderpaul on the third day on Saturday and will be eyeing a total of 239 to avoid being asked to follow-on.

FRUITLESS TOIL

Earlier, West Indies endured a fruitless toil during the first hour of play when Kohli and Jadeja resisted to extend their fifth-wicket stand to 159 and take India past 350.

Kohli reached his hundred from 180 balls when he drove a wide half-volley from fast bowler Shannon Gabriel past point for the 10th of his 11 fours in the seventh over of the day. It was the 76th hundred in international matches for the former India captain.

Three balls later, Jadeja reached his 50 from 105 balls when he drove another wide half-volley from Gabriel past mid-off.

The breakthrough came fortuitously for the Caribbean side when Kohli failed to beat a direct hit at the bowler’s end from Alzarri Joseph after playing a delivery from Warrican into midwicket, and there was a bit of a hesitation between him and Jadeja about taking a single.

Further success came for the hosts five overs later when Roach got Jadeja caught behind for 61 after reviewing a negative verdict from South African umpire Marais Erasmus.

After lunch, West Indies persevered with their steady bowling in sweltering conditions after the visitors continued from their lunchtime total of 373 for six, and it paid dividends, though Ashwin defied them to carve out 56.

The hosts had success in the sixth over after the interval when Holder got Ishan Kishan caught behind for 25, but fortune failed to smile on them in the next over when Ashwin, on 18, successfully reviewed an lbw verdict to Warrican that TV ball tracking technology suggested was going down the leg-side.

West Indies were frustrated for close to 40 minutes when Jaydev Unadkat came to the crease and carried India past 400 with Ashwin before Warrican deceived him in flight and got him stumped for seven.

Warrican got Mohammed Siraj leg before wicket for an 11-ball duck before Roach brought the innings to a close when he bowled Ashwin after the batsman had taken boundaries off three of the previous four deliveries to reach his 50 from 75 balls.

India lead the two-Test series 1-0 after they won the first Test that ended last Friday at Windsor Park in Dominica by an innings and 141 runs inside three days.

The two Tests are part of the new round of the World Test Championship 2023 to 2025.