LUNCH 42 overs – WICB 104-3, Blackwood 20, Singh 12
A long session, 34 overs to be precise, finally ends with the WICB at 104-3. The last part of the session was a quiet one, with the duo of Blackwood and Singh successfully playing out whatever was offered by the spinners and Mohammed Shami. There were as many as four fielders around the bat for Ashwin’s last over before the break.
39 overs – WICB 98-3
Mohammed Shami’s aggressive spell has been the highlight of the action in the last ten overs. He has been mixing up his lengths very well, peppering the batsmen with short deliveries, and following it up with full ones. The close-in fielders have been kept in place for Mishra, but he has failed to induce an edge off the batsmen, who have played out a quiet phase after the fall of Hope’s wicket.
36 overs – WICB 96-3
Some pace finally, in the form of the 26-year old Mohammed Shami. He starts with a barrage of short balls, testing the batsmen with some chin music. With each progressing over, Mishra's deliveries are extracting more and more turn from the surface. Shami’s second over of the morning wasn’t too different from the first, mixing good length deliveries with some short stuff.
33 overs – WICB 92-3, Blackwood 20, Singh 6
There is an addition to the spin attack in the form of the leggie Amit Mishra. He managed to extract a bit of turn straight away, but was a touch on the shorter side. Ashwin continued from the other end, hardly giving the batsmen anything to work on. Mishra’s second over was a clear improvement, with the ball being pitched further up to the batsman, inviting him into a shot.
30 overs – WICB 85-3, Blackwood 12, Singh 1
One more quick wicket, and India will have a realistic chance of finishing this match in their favour. The two-pronged spin attack of Jadeja and Ashwin have kept things quiet, bowling testing channels on the off and middle stump. It is a test of survival for the WICB President’s batsmen here onwards. Apart from a few wide deliveries from Ashwin, that have been cut away for boundaries, the duo has maintained pressure in the middle
26 overs – WICB 71-3, Blackwood 4, Singh 1
And, the fielder at leg-slip gets into the action, latching onto an edge off Hope’s pads to complete a soft dismissal. Ashwin managed to spin the ball enough to get an edge off Hope’s glance. Vishaul Singh is the new batsman.
25 overs – WICB 70-2, Blackwood 4, Hope 17
With a wicket in his kitty, Jadeja is suddenly looking like a changed bowler, giving the ball more air as well as spin. Ashwin is continuing his trade of well-flighted deliveries on the off and middle stump, which has been countered by the duo with ease till now. The odd delivery is still darting off the surface, with fielders at short-leg and leg-slip ready to gobble any edge that comes off the bat. An edge off Jadeja’s flighted delivery almost carried to the first slip in the 24th over. And, drinks are on the field.
21 overs – WICB 60-2, Blackwood 0, Hope 11
With three close-in fielders next to the batsman, Ashwin is persisting with a tight line on the off stump to the left-handed Campbell. And, it is spin from both fronts, with Jadeja joining Ashwin after a change of ends. The move worked for him, as Campbell went for one shot too many, skying a ball to KL Rahul at deep midwicket. He departed for a well-made 31, but the shot-selection will question the temperament of the batsmen in the face of quality spin. Jermaine Blackwood is the new man in.
18 overs – WICB 59-1, Campbell 31, Hope 10
Thakur experimented with a short ball in the 17th over and was hooked for a boundary by Shai Hope. Ravichandran Ashwin, the sole wicket-taker in this innings, was reintroduced into the attack. Campbell continued with his aggressive instincts, sweeping the ball with ease. Ashwin made the odd ball rip off the surface, which caught the edge of Campbell’s bat and almost carried to first slip.
16 overs – WICB 53-1, Campbell 29, Hope 6
Campbell isn’t shying away from punishing any loose delivery bowled by Jadeja. He slog-swept him for a four and followed it with a six over cow-corner in the 16th over to take the score past 50.Thakur has been bowling outside the off stump relentlessly, hardly giving the batsmen any room to go for the shots.
13 overs – WICB 43-1, Campbell 20, Hope 6
Jadeja managed a better second over, bowling a maiden to John Campbell. Thakur continued his tight lines on and outside off-stump, but strayed in line towards the end of the 13th over, gifting a loose ball to Hope on the leg stump that was readily flicked to the midwicket fence.
10 overs – WICB 38-1, Campbell 19, Hope 2Ravindra Jadeja shares the ball from the other end and is straight away welcomed with a six over long on. He quickly goes through with the remainder of his over.Thakur is bowling a tight line outside the off stump to the left-handers.
Shardul Thakur has been given the first over on the third day. Shai Hope has joined John Campbell in the middle.
The trio of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja scored fifties as India took a comfortable lead over the WICB President’s XI on Day 2 of the second practice match. India require 9 more wickets to force a result on the third and final day of the match.
You can watch the live stream of the match here.
After having bundled out the Board President’s outfit for a meagre 180 runs, the Indian batsmen dug in to get some much-needed practice. While Kohli, Rahul and Jadeja helped themselves to fifties, Wriddhiman Saha and Ajinkya Rahane contributed with useful scores as India ended their innings on 364. Batting in the third innings, the Board President's XI lost the wicket of Leon Johnson, who departed to a tame caught-and-bowled dismissal to Ravichandran Ashwin.
Entering into the final day, the WICB President’s XI are 158 runs in the arrears. You can follow the live stream here:
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