Gros Islet Test: West Indies make strong start after India end at 353 on Day 2

Gros Islet India suffered a late batting collapse allowing the West Indies to sneak back into the contest after Ravichandran Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha struck fighting centuries on day two of the third Test here todayWriddhiman Saha L and Ravichandran Ashwin hug in celebration of both of their centuries during day 2 of the 3rd Test between West Indies and India at Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium Gros Islet St Lucia PicAFPIndia lost their last five wickets for 37 runs to be 353 all out in the second session The visitors looked set for a much bigger total when Ashwin 118 and Saha 104 were at the crease but the wicketkeeperbatsmans dismissal not only ended a marathon 213 run partnership it also triggered a batting collapseThe West Indies responded strongly to Indias first innings effort reaching 107 for one at close of play to trail by 246 runs Kraigg Brathwaite 53 and Darren Bravo 18 came up with a spirited batting effort to give their team a promising startPost tea Leon Johnson 23 and Brathwaite started off from 160 as Ashwin 017 started proceedings But that was a ploy to change ends for Mohammed Shami 035 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar 011 Though they got a little more purchase from this move the batsmen were never really in trouble and brought up their 50partnership in 114 balls It was the first time the West Indiesiquest openers had crossed this mark in the Test series so farBut their joy was short lived as Lokesh Rahul made amends for his dropping of Johnson on 4 at second slip off Shami early in the innings Stationed at short midwicket he was quick to pick up the ball and a direct hit at the nonstrikeriquests end sent Johnson back to the pavilion in the 24th overBravo came to the crease then and together batted out 23 overs with Brathwaite as the two batsmen saw off the remainder of the session without much bother and put on 48 runs for the second wicket The pitch seemed to have eased out completely and the bowlers didniquestt get much purchase out of it even as Ravindra Jadeja 09 made the batsmen play as much as possibleBut at the same time Ishant Sharma 026 was guilty of bowing short and wide to the batsmen Brathwaite made full use of it bringing up the 100mark in the last over of the day and reaching his fifty off 141 balls in the same over In the post lunch session Ashwin finally broke free of the shackles on 99 and smacked Roston Chase 270 over midwicket for a six to reach his fourth Test hundred off 265 balls and indeed his fourth against the same oppositionHe joined a select group of players Richie Benaud vs South Africa in 195758 Tony Greig vs West Indies in 197374 and Ian Botham vs Australia in 1981 iquest to take multiple fivewicket hauls and score multiple hundreds in the same Test series At the other end Saha 104 runs 227 balls 13 fours too reached his maiden Test hundred off 223 balls and in doing so the duo brought up their 200run standSaha couldnt go on for long though edging Alzarri Joseph 369 behind soon after bringing an end to the mega partnership that saved India the blushes Ravindra Jadeja 6 came to the crease and hit a couple lusty blows but was dismissed by Miguel Cummins 354 caught behind the fast bowler taking 281 deliveries for his first Test wicketBut this was the start of a 10ball burst from the bowler taking three wickets in all as he wrapped up the Indian tail Ashwin 118 runs 297 balls 6 fours was finally caught at gully off him in the 130th over and Ishant Sharma 0 was bounced out with Shannon Gabriel 284 dismissing Bhuvneshwar Kumar 0 at the other endEarlier starting at the overnight score of 2345 the two batsmen once again looked sturdy and intent to play for time The ball was still new as Joseph and Gabriel started off proceedings But it seemed the pitch had calmed down a bit since day one as there was not much bite in the West Indies bowling this second morningSaha got to his third Test halfcentury off 135 balls and thereafter Indiaiquests 250mark came up in the 97th over But the two batsmen were still not looking to get on with the scoring rate as they looked to settle down and play a long innings that would give their team the upper hand once again They were helped in this endeavour by some waywardbowling from Cummins and Gabriel while skipper Jason Holder 034 himself wasniquestt too penetrative eitherChase meanwhile persisted with his legstump line bowling to a predominantly legside field to Ashwin and thus looking to dry up the runs The two batsmen didniquestt mind as only 21 runs came in the first hour of play spanning 13 overs However in the second hour of this morning session the scoring rate finally picked up a bit as a moreconfident Saha played some fine shotsHe wasniquestt too aggressive but looked positive against the pacers and looked to attack Chase whenever possible as he quickly caught up in the nervous 90s with his teammate Ashwin though was dropped on 92 as he hit Chase straight to Johnson at short leg in the 110th over Thereafter he lingered on quite a bit especially on 99 and it helped bring up the 150mark of the duos partnership off 358 deliveries Previously the Indian 300mark had also come up in the 113th overSahaiquests eagerness meant that 51 runs came off the last 10 overs going into the lunch break a second session without any loss of wickets for India But neither of the two batsmen could then go on to score their respective hundreds surprisingly enough even as 82 runs came in the morning sessionOn day one West Indies won the toss and elected to field India were reduced to 1305 at one stage after which Ashwin and Saha rescued the innings with an unbeaten century stand