Brief Scores: India 425/6 (KL Rahul 158, Rahane 74*; Chase 2/91) lead West Indies 196 all out by 229 runs.
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Star batsman Ajinkya Rahane scored his seventh Test century as India gathered a vital 304-run first innings lead against the West Indies at stumps on the third day of the second cricket Test at the Sabina Park Stadium here on Monday. It was a compact innings in which he played 303 balls.
And captain Virat Kohli, coming off a double century in the first Test won by India, accrued 44 before being caught at short-leg off the bowling of off-spinner Chase. Total: (for 5 wkts, in 138 overs) 392.
“You probably have to give a little credit to the West Indies bowlers as well”. The West Indies’ decision to delay the new ball helped Kohli settle down, and he was beaten only once in the first 20 deliveries that he had faced. Before the 121-run stand between Rahul and Pujara, the last century stand for the second wicket in West Indies came in 2002 in St John’s when Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer added 155 runs. Umpires were initially unsure if the ball carried but replays confirmed the dismissal to end Rahul’s marathon innings on 158, a knock full of patience and determination as well as some classy stroke-play.
“So, it is a bit of maturity from the West Indies, it is bit of a pride for the West Indies cricketers to turn up for their country and also scheduling from their board as well because the Caribbean Premier League is organised by the WICB”, Ganguly told India Today Television.
Holder, who had gone wicketless through 54 overs in the series, troubled Rahane consistently in a nine-over spell after replacing fast bowler Shannon Gabriel 40 minutes into the session. And he wasted no time in reaching the three-figure landmark as he danced down the pitch and lifted the spinner handsomely over mid-wicket to reach his third Test ton off 182 balls. It was a long stay at the crease, which didn¿t even result in a half-century, an obvious source of disappointment as the batsman trudged off slowly.
“As I said, it’s a great opportunity, not only for me, but for the team to make a turnaround and come here and play some positive cricket and put up, not just a challenge, but a fight”. He managed two draw two edges also but both fell short of the close in fielders. Thereafter, the 50-partnership for the sixth wicket came up off 116 deliveries. However, Rahane survived a couple of leg-before appeals against Jason Holder.
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Holder then finally got some reward for bowling tight when he trapped the keeper-batsman LBW just before lunch, his first wicket in this series.
