Latest update April 20th, 2024 12:59 AM
Aug 19, 2016 Sports
By Sean Devers in Trinidad in association with Cascadia Hotel and Lifetime Real Estate
In the past an India / West Indies Test match in the Twin Island Republic attracted capacity crowds everyday but yesterday, a small working day gathering turn-out to watch this Test.
West Indies, led by an unbeaten 32 from 78 balls with five fours from Kraigg Braithwaite, reached 62-2 on a truncated opening day of the fourth and final Test at the Queens Park Oval where India has not played since they beat the host by 37 runs in April 2002.
Surprisingly none of India’s seven Tests in 2006 and 2011 were played in T&T which has the largest population of Indian descendants in the Caribbean. Rain forced an early lunch and it continued well into the afternoon resulting in the day’s play being called off at 14:15hrs.
Yesterday’s game commenced 30 minutes late due to overnight rain which left a few wet areas on the ground and West Indies, who replaced Alazzrai Joseph with Devendra Bishoo won the toss and elected to bat in overcast conditions and a track with a tinge of grass.
Braithwaite got off the mark with an edge off Kumar who tested him with perfect away swingers which pinched his edge a couple of times. Leon Johnson, again asked to open, missed a back foot punch at a ball he did not have to play at from Shami, who then beat him with a beauty as the new ball pair utilized perfect conditions for swing bowling.
Braithwaite pulled Shami for four, and with the sun back in all its glory, Johnson sweetly caressed the pacer majestically to the cover boundary. But Johnson (9) for the second consecutive time in the series pushed a short ball to forward short leg as Ishant Sharma struck at 31-1.
The Guyanese left-handed make shift opener once again looked uncomfortable against the new ball. Ravi Ashwin’s off-spin was introduced in the 13th over and was greeted with an elegant cover-driven boundary from Braithwaite while Bravo danced into him and drove him down the ground for four.
However, Bravo (10) played lazily forward to one that just turned a little and was bowled off-stump to give Ashwin his 17th scalp of the series. But Braithwaite was growing in confidence and used his feet to hit Ashwin for four over long-on and hung back to cut for a couple when he ‘pulled the ball down’ next ball.
An early lunch was taken at 12:18 due to a heavy shower with West Indies on 62-2 from 22 overs; Braithwaite on 32 and Marlon Samuels on four, play never resumed. Today play is scheduled to start at 09:30hrs but this is the middle of the rainy season here even though the sun returned yesterday, an early start seems an unlikely prospect.
Scoreboard
West Indies 1st Inns
K Braithwaite not out 32
L. Johnson c R Sharma b I Sharma 9
D Bravo b Ashwin 10|
M Samuels not out 4
Extras (lb-6, nb-1) 7
Total (for 2 wkts off 22 overs) 62
Bowling: Kumar 6-1-13-0, Shami 6-2-14-0, I Sharma 5-3-7-1, Ashwin 5-1-22-1
Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-48.
Bowling: Kumar 6-1-13-0, Mohammed Shami 6-2-14-0, Ishant Sharma 5-3-7-1, Ashwin 5-1-22-1.
INDIA – Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravi Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha, Cheteshwar Pujara, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma.
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: Nigel Llong, Rod Tucker; TV – N Duguid.
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