http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 v India 2nd Test – Day 1 Recap - Wickets galore but match hangs in balance
West Indies ended the first day of the 2nd Test, against India, on June 28, 2011, with figures of 30-3, after they had bundled out the Indian side for 201 on a bowler friendly track in Barbados.
The West Indies bowlers took full advantage of a juicy pitch that offered bounce and turn, as pacers Ravi Rampaul and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/A-M-Low-c41214 total of 201.
It was the ever reliable VVS Laxman who came to the rescue as he grinded the initial backlash to help him reach a well made 85. Along with Suresh Raina who made 53, they rescued the Indian innings and shared a fifth wicket partnership of 117.
When the Windies started their innings, they too found batting tough and fell quickly to the Indian bowlers with likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Close-c51347 of play.
Earlier in the morning, West Indies had won the toss and elected to bowl first. Considering the moisture on the pitch that offered bounce and pace, their decision was more than what they had wished for.
In his very first over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Marlon-Nathaniel-Samuels-c74804 obliged.
It was the fourth time Rampaul had taken a wicket in his first over. From one end Rampaul took full use of the wicket, Fidel Edward however, on the other end, could not control his line and length as most of his deliveries were well outside the off stump
which the batsmen were more than http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Arthur-Percival-Day-c45927 to leave.
The West Indies captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rahul-Sharad-Dravid-c83351, who edged to the keeper. To be fair to Dravid who made 5, it was a superb, good length delivery, leaving him with no
chance but to play at it.
Although http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gordon-Muchall-c1499 to talk about as he faced 75 deliveries for his 11. Sammy brought back Rampaul before the lunch and he quickly removed Vijay who fiddled with a bouncy leg side ball that took his
gloves and ended up in the keeper’s glove.
In the same over, Rampaul then took the important wicket of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/V-Kohli-c2737, who had no answer to the bounce. The ball just shot off from a good length, took Kohli’s glove and went straight to second slip. At lunch, India were reeling at 44-4 with Raina and
Laxman on the crease.
The middle session brought http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SK-Raina-c2539 put on a solid partnership, which saw both players reaching their half centuries. Both Raina and Laxman started to hit boundaries, which prompted the Windies to put a fielder
on the cover side.
No wicket fell in the session, and by tea India had moved on to 147-4 with Laxman on 69 and Raina on 52.
The game changed as the Indians came to bat as now West Indies leg-spinner Bishoo, took full use of a bouncy pitch to get rid of Raina. However, he was given out, caught at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Asad-Rauf-c46204, although replays suggested differently.
Then Fidel Edward, who had bowled erratically all day, dismissed Indian captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harbhajan-Singh-c61453 (5) in quick succession. Dhoni could not cope with a ball that stopped on him and looped a catch to mid-on.
Harbhajan was dismissed by a scorching delivery that caught him on the backfoot. He tried to duck under but was caught by the rushing off-side fielder, Barath, who took a good catch diving forward.
This left Laxman to battle it out with the tail. After reaching 8000 test runs he cut a ball from Bishoo, which fell at cover. He made 85 and also reached a personal milestone of making 1000 runs in the Caribbean.
After that, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/A-Mithun-c41242 was bowled by Edward who failed to trouble the scorer. The last wicket to fall was of Praveen Kumar, who was caught by the keeper off the bowling of Bishoo.
As West Indies started the reply, Adrian Barath fell first, with a strange shot to gully, off the bowling of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/I-Sharma-c1566.
Simmons then became http://www.senore.com/Cricket/P-Kumar-c2143’s first scalp as he was caught by Dhoni. The last wicket of the day belonged to Abhimanyu Mithun, who tempted Bravo to edge one to Dhoni again.
The day ended with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ramnaresh-Ronnie-Sarwan-c83880 and Devendra Bishoo on the crease, with 10 and 0 runs respectively. West Indies were 30 for 3 down. They will be looking to play through the next day without losing many wickets.
However, the Indian bowlers will be looking to exploit the bounce in the pitch on the 2nd day as well.
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