Roston Chase took India on a trip down memory lane with yet another of his characteristically gritty knock to help the West Indies finish off the day on a far more satisfying note — 295 for seven — than it looked possible at one stage on the first day of the second Test at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Friday.
Chase held centrestage with a near-perfect blend of caution and strung up two crucial partnerships to keep the home team at bay. Reminding everyone of the match-saving century he hit against India in the 2016 Jamaica Test.
Partnerships
First, Chase put on 69 runs for the sixth wicket with wicketkeeper-batsman Shane Dowrich and then a 104 off 183 balls for the seventh wicket with captain Jason Holder.
Again, it was not the typical West Indian flamboyance which was on show, but apparently heeding to the captain’s advice — patience pays — Chase responded to the situation in style to thwart the Indian bowling attack which had little help from the pitch.
Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav bowled beautifully to pick up three wickets and pacer Umesh Yadav chipped in with three in conditions that suited the batters better.
The spinner stuck to the basics — bowling a teasing line and length with plenty of variations to keep the batsman guessing.
R. Ashwin struck the first blow, deceiving Kieran Powell in flight. The batsman was forced to step out and hit straight to Ravindra Jadeja in the 12th over.
Opener Kraig Brathwaite didn’t last too long after striking two fours in the first over. He even failed to thrive on luck — Ajinkya Rahane failing to latch on to an edge off Kuldeep — and was trapped lbw by the same bowler with one that spun back sharply.
Just when Shai Hope was looking good for a big score Umesh struck, trapping him lbw in the 32nd over at the stroke of lunch.
In the third over after lunch, Kuldeep trapped a hesitant Shimron Hetmyer lbw with the batsman offering no stroke and then induced an ambitious shot from Sunil Ambris, who seemed to be in a hurry, only to be caught at covers.
Umesh returned to break the sixth-wicket stand before it assumed menacing proportions — earning an lbw verdict against Dowrich, whose review was unsuccessful.
It was Umesh who also broke the well-set partnership between Chase and Holder with the second new ball just before close of play.
Earlier, in a strange move, the visitors’ think tank did not consider Kemar Roach for this match.
Shardul injured
The Indian bowling attacked suffered a blow when debutant pacer Shardul Thakur had to leave the field in discomfort in the fourth over of the innings after having bowled just 10 balls.
A BCCI official said his progress was being monitored and an update would be released later on.
