93 overs – India 258/3. Sharma 54, Mishra 18 – End of Day 1
The day’s play has been brought to a close after a convincing partnership between Sharma and Mishra, who put a price on their wickets. Sharma reached his half-century with two overs to go in the day with a cracking boundary. Mishra played technically correct shots to stitch together a 43-run partnership. There has been some stress put on the batting prowess of the lower order recently, and Mishra’s innings will have pleased new coach Anil Kumble.
Catch India vs WICB President XI Warm Up Match Live Cricket Score and Commentary; Day 2 here.
87 overs – India 239/3. Sharma 39, Mishra 14
The home team are breezing through their overs. 60 off the first 80 overs were spin. Fast bowlers come on with last few overs left. Rohit Sharma still looking strong, operating without brain fade. Mishra providing able company.
77 overs – India 215/3. Sharma 29, Mishra 2
Saha is out! Simple catch given to short leg. Gone for 22. Amit Mishra has come out to give Rohit Sharma company. The last hour of play remains. Will Rohit be going for his shots now, or continue to protect his wicket?
74 overs – India 211/2. Sharma 29, Saha 20
The 200 has come up for India. There have been 25 fours and one KL Rahul six hit in the day. Warrican is off from the attack, but WICB President’s XI persist with spin from both ends. Signs that Amit Mishra will have a lot to do on the second day.
66 overs – India 182/2. Sharma 12, Saha 8
Seemingly having had enough of defending, Sharma steps out of his crease and hits a boundary over the bowler’s head. Saha attempts a sweep in the next over, but can only hit the ball into the ground. Spin being bowled from both ends still.
62 overs – India 168/2. Sharma 5, Saha 1
The final session of the first day is underway. Pujara, who looked solid, has retired out after a 102-ball 34. Wriddhiman Saha is the new batsman in after tea, joining Rohit Sharma. WICB President’s XI continue with spin from both ends.
The free scoring rate from when Dhawan and Rahul were batting is like from a distant era now. The pitch has slowed down considerably, and scoring shots are hard to come by. Some chances are being offered to the bowling side too. Can Sharma and Saha put up a staunch defence?
60 overs – India 166/2. Sharma 4, Pujara 34
Tea has been called. The second session has had blips for the visiting team, who were bothered by the lft-arm spin of Warrican. Pujara has looked very solid and careful in his crafted innings. Sharma, who has just joined him, will be looking to score big to convince the management of his worth in the Test XI. He has got off the mark with a square cut boundary.
55 overs – India 159/2. Sharma 0, Pujara 31
Another wicket falls! Indians are having some trouble dealing with Jomel Warrican. This time it is Ajinkya Rahane who has his stumps cleaned up, bowled for 5, in an attempt to play the on drive. Straightaway a confusion of running between new batsman Rohit Sharma and Pujara, but they survive.
52 overs – India 157/1. Rahane 2, Pujara 31
Ajinkya Rahane has not put a foot wrong after coming on in place of Kohli, but there has been an unmistakeable change in momentum. The scoring rate has slipped to 3 now. Pujara is looking more comfortable at the crease, and even pulled a few short deliveries. Spin from both ends for the WICB President’s XI for now.
47 overs - India 134/1. Rahane 0, Pujara 13
The first wicket has fallen! And of all people, Kohli is out! Gone for 14, caught behind off Warrican’s left arm spin. He had fallen twice to Jadeja’s left arm spin in the previous warm up match, in Alur. Ajinkya Rahane has come out to join Pujara.
46 overs – India 129/0. Kohli 13, Pujara 9
After the openers have retired to the hut, India’s No.3 and No.4 have been content to stroke the ball around. Pujara has looked in no hurry. Kohli also took 17 balls to get off strike, but did so with a cracking boundary.
36 overs – India 108/0. Kohli 0, Pujara 1
Rahul brings up his fifty in 99 balls and then retires out. Captain Virat Kohli comes in to replace him. The duo of Pujara and Kohli are now expected to play out the rest of the second session.
34 overs – India 107/0. Rahul 49, Pujara 1
India have reached the three-figure mark and Rahul is the second batsman to be approaching his half-century. Pujara, who has come on in place of Dhawan, has looked circumspect till now. The scoring rate has dipped to accommodate this new pairing. There is, however, none of the boisterous cheering that the fielders had started the day with. It looks destined that the visitors will chalk up a gigantic score.
29 overs – India 93/0. Rahul 37, Pujara
The second session is now underway at Warner Park. Shikhar Dhawan has retired out for 51*. Cheteshwar Pujara is out in the middle with Rahul.
The openers see one more over off, adding one more run, before Lunch is called. The visitors have not lost a wicket in the first session. India 93/0 in 28 overs at the break. Rahul is on 37 and Dhawan 51.
27 overs – India 92/0. Rahul 37, Dhawan 50
Dhawan has reached his half-century off 88 balls, having hit 7 boundaries. It is almost as if the two batsmen have entered into a changed format of the game, punishing anything that is loose and turning the singles into doubles whenever possible.
23 overs – India 79/0. Rahul 30, Dhawan 44
Dhawan has clearly taken off here, with Rahul the batsman struggling to accelerate. An attempted drive from his bat edged through to the slips, but keeper and slip let it go through. Rahul survives.
21 overs – India 65/0. Rahul 30, Dhawan 32
A lot of aggressive intent shown in that last over to the leg spinner. First Rahul smashed the first six of the match over long-on, and then it was Dhawan’s turn to flash a cut shot to the off side fence. Dhawan also looked read to step out several times.
Two things are clear – Rahul is much more comfortable hitting straight while Dhawan prefers the off side and on side; from the increase in momentum, this pair might be reaching the end of their stipulated time at the crease.
17 overs – India 42/0. Rahul 20, Dhawan 18
Still no joy for the West Indies bowlers. Dhawan has got into his groove more. Strike is being rotated well. Rahul is leaning into his straight drives well. The introduction of spinner Jomel Warrican turned things a little more interesting, as Dhawan was faced with two loud shouts in his first over, but still no real chance to speak of.
10 overs – India 27/0. Rahul 16, Dhawan 10
The batsmen are content playing themselves in. They are letting the wide deliveries go, and presenting the straight face of the bat when they have to. Predictably, one of them is looking far more comfortable. Rahul started off with two fluent looking boundaries off Mindley. Dhawan looked the quieter, and was content swatting one boundary away to the leg side. The pitch looks to have good bounce and carry.
Captain Kohli has won the toss and elected to bat first. India are opening with KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan.
India (Playing XI): Virat Kohli(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
The teams have been announced. Twelve players can bat from both sides, while eleven players can field at a point of time. Murali Vijay, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja have probably been considered certainties for the 1st Test, and do not feature in the playing team. Neither do Stuart Binny and Shardul Thakur, all of whom can be expected to feature in the second practice match next week.
India start off their 49-day tour of the West Indies with a two-day practice match against the West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI on Saturday at Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts. There shall be as many as six Test players in the WICB President’s XI, and so it is expected to be a tough examination for the visitors.
A lot of the spotlight will be on opener Shikhar Dhawan, whose spot is being eyed by KL Rahul. Mohammed Shami is also another player upon whom there shall be a lot of attention. This is the first time he shall be playing international cricket in sixteen months.
Teams:
West Indies Cricket Board President XI (From): Leon Johnson(c), Jermaine Blackwood, Rajendra Chandrika, Peter Chase, Jason Dawes, Shane Dowrich(w), Shai Hope, Damion Jacobs, Keon Joseph, M Mindley, Vishaul Singh, Jomel Warrican
India (From): Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara, Lokesh Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Murali Vijay, Umesh Yadav
India takes on WICB President XI in the first practice match, follow this space for all the live cricket score and commentary. You can also live stream the match here:
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