Gritty Chase rescues wasteful WI
FIGHTING STAND Raises century partnership with skipper Holder after top order throws away good starts
A fighting 104-run stand for the seventh wicket between skipper Jason Holder and Roston Chase helped West Indies put up a decent 295/7 at stumps on Day One of the second Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here on Friday.
Chase was unbeaten on 98 with seven fours and a six, eyeing his fourth Test hundred, and Devendra Bishoo was batting on two. It was a much-improved show after the visitors’ batting failed twice in the first Test in Rajkot. In this match, West Indies have already batted 95 overs. In Rajkot, both their innings were wrapped up in just 98.
On Friday too, it seemed like the West Indian top-order batsmen were in a hurry. Choosing to bat first on a wicket with a fair sprinkling of grass that did not offer much turn, most West Indies batsmen failed to put their head down and grind it out.
They lost three wickets each in the first two sessions, scoring 86 until lunch and 111 in the second session, losing three of their genuine batsmen — Kieran Powell, Shai Hope and Sunil Ambris — to poor shot selection. The final session was their best when they put up 98 runs losing just one wicket, that of Holder who was caught behind trying to pull a short one from Umesh Yadav soon after the second new ball was taken in the 88th over.
Coming out to bat in the final session on 197/6, Chase and Holder taught their top order the art of batting in the sub-continent after the former had shared a 69-run stand with Shane Dowrich for the sixth wicket.
Chase’s show didn’t surprise Windies coach, Stuart Law. “He understands spin. They face a lot of spin in the Caribbean domestic cricket. He has got a long reach and takes half-a-stride and is there to the length of the crease. He uses that to his advantage, and he is a clean striker of the ball.”
Chase showed signs of his match-saving knock against India in Jamaica two years back where he scored an unbeaten 137, his highest in Tests.
Even after India lost debutant medium-pacer Shardul Thakur in the fourth over of the day to a groin injury, West Indies kept losing wickets at regular intervals and failed to make India feel a bowler short. Initially a touch erratic, Umesh settled into a good rhythm and got some reverse swing going midway into the second session. He made up for Thakur’s absence by bowling a whopping 23 overs in four spells, bagging three wickets for 83 runs. His third wicket was the most crucial, Holder losing composure and going after a ball he should have left alone. Opener Kieran Powell was the first to go, falling to R Ashwin. West Indies struggled the most against Kuldeep who took three wickets.