It was a day of attrition for the batsmen and one that saw the bowlers come out trumps with the fall of 13 wickets. The first day of the second Test match between India and West Indies at Barbados had a continuing theme of struggling batsmen and bowlers who ran amuck before the day ended in parity.
India v West Indies 2nd Test Day One: 13 Wickets Fall On Bouncy Barbados Pitch
Put into bat, India lost four wickets in the first session and six in the third, sandwiching a superb 117-run stand between VVS Laxman and Suresh Raina in the second session.
India seemed to have plunged into an abyss when they were reduced to 38 for four that included the dismissal of Rahul Dravid, but recovered through Laxman and Raina. Laxman, who had failed in both innings of the first Test, was at his delectable best while Raina continued to mix aggression with tenacity to see through the session.
Both got to their half-centuries before Raina was declared out off the bowling of Devendra Bishoo, caught at short-leg. And much like what had happened in the first Test match, the rest of the side collapsed to the frightful pace of Fidel Edwards.
Earlier, the Indians had lost Abhinav Mukund in the very second over and made heavy weather of scoring the runs. Only eight runs came from the first 10 overs and by lunch, the team hadn’t made too much headway, having got to only 44.
In the end, India were bowled out for 201 with Edwards, Ravi Rampaul and Devendra Bishoo capturing three wickets apiece.
West Indies had around a hour to survive and in that, they lost three wickets. Both openers went cheaply as the hosts slumped to five for two, before Darren Bravo was declared caught behind in the last over of the day to leave the side tottering at 30 for three. All the three Indian bowlers tried, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun had three wickets to their name.
India v West Indies 2nd Test, Day Two will be played on June 29 at Barbados.
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