Virat Kohli hits ton before WI openers begin solidly

After scalping just five Indian wickets in Dominica, the West Indies did manage to bowl the visitors out, but the total of 438 that Rohit Sharma & Co ended up with seemed a tough challenge for the hosts, on the evidence of what transpired in the first Test.
But the start of the West Indian innings was much more solid and uneventful this time, as openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul focused exclusively on survival and took 22 overs to reach 50. Spin was brought on pretty early in the pace, but partly due to the batsmen learning a few lessons from Dominica, and partly due to the pitch not being so responsive, there was not much joy as the West Indies ended Day 2 on 86/1, trailing 352 runs. They will need to bat through the whole of the third day, and probably beyond to get close to the Indian total and make a match of it.
Debutant Mukesh Kumar was steady and accurate, without being too threatening. Pace is not one of his big strengths and the little seam movement he extracted from the surface wasn’t too hard to negotiate. The scoring rate fell to under two runs an over at one stage, but after being bowled out in around 65 and 50 overs, the hosts were not complaining . Skipper Rohit had to bring Mohammed Siraj back into the attack, a small tick for the Caribbean openers. He tried to target the two batsmen with short stuff, but without any success.
It was Ravindra Jadeja who got the breakthrough when he induced Chanderpaul to go for a big hit to one pitched outside off-stump, only for the leading edge looping to Ravichandran Ashwin at backward point, after the openers had put on 71. Debutant Kirk McKenzie, a left-hander, was a lot more positive and even hit Ashwin over mid-off for six.

It only took 2 deliveries to dismiss Chanderpaul. @imjadeja spinning his magic!..#INDvWIonFanCode #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/NW1lmoUCXv
— FanCode (@FanCode) July 21, 2023
Big partnership
During India’s batting innings, Virat Kohli and Jadeja had come together post-tea on the first day after the hosts had taken four wickets in relatively quick time. They prevented any further setbacks in the final session on Thursday, and as long as they were together on the second morning, there was a seeming inevitability that the former skipper would get the 13 runs he needed for Test ton No. 29, and the left-handed all-rounder will get to his half-century.
Both hardly had to do anything out of the ordinary to reach their respective landmarks, as the West Indies were again flat to start the day. Kohli’s celebration on reaching three figures was routine as he knew that this innings is not likely to be included in the shortl of his greatest, partly due to the opposition not being the strongest. Kohli and Jadeja just batted normally, and when the former was found short of the crease an Alzarri Joseph direct hit when attempting a tight single, it seemed the only way he could have been dismissed after looking determined to cash in with the bowling not testing him a great deal. The 159 they put on was more than what the West Indies managed as an XI in either innings in Dominica.

Ending a 5-year wait in his 500th Int’l Game with a 💯
Just @imVkohli things!.#INDvWIonFanCode #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/5j5td33iO2
— FanCode (@FanCode) July 21, 2023
Kohli’s 121 was his second hundred in four Tests, but he would feel that he let go of a much bigger score with that stutter that cost him his wicket.
With an experience of 500 international games, Kohli knows what it takes to get the job done, even if his ‘A’ game is not there. He struggled through his 76 in Dominica, but that toil helped him get a hundred in his next outing. At Windsor Park, it was unusual to see the batting maestro celebrating boundaries with raised arms as if they were significant milestones, such was the struggle.
Making it count
On Thursday, the veteran was stuck on zero for 20 balls in the middle session, but he didn’t seem to fret for a moment. His movements were confident and precise, and once he got going, there was no looking back.
Kohli’s cover-driving, one of the most attractive facets of his batting, was on display several times during his hundred, and even the slow outfield at the Queen’s Park Oval couldn’t prevent his well-timed shots from reaching the boundary. The lightning quick running between the wickets, in partnership with an ever-willing Jadeja, was another sign that Kohli was up for the task. It was a question of him doing what was necessary and not getting bored the lack of a stiff enough challenge.
Jadeja, once he crossed 50 and had his typical sword-swishing celebration, looked likely to get to a hundred himself, before he edged one to Joshua da Silva behind the wicket off Kemar Roach. Ishan Kishan started in aggressive fashion, and hit four boundaries before succumbing in similar fashion to Jason Holder, soon after getting a life.

FIFTY!@imjadeja with a well made half-century in the 2nd Test.
His 19th in Test cricket 👏👏
Live – https://t.co/P2NGagSzo5… #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/D9un3hFSum
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 21, 2023
But the West Indies are the favourite opposition for Ashwin, the batsman – four of his five Test hundreds have come against them, and he dug in and the bowlers and the docile pitch didn’t do much to deter Jaydev Unadkat either. It was only when the latter went for a wild swish against Jomel Warrican that he was caught out of his crease.
The arrival of No. 10 Siraj was a signal for Ashwin to get a lot more adventurous against both pace and spin. Paddle-sweeps and the glide over the slips came out of the locker as the star India off-spinner rushed towards his fifty. He didn’t protect Siraj turning down singles. The latter kept out the pacers easily enough, but the sight of left-arm spinner Warrican prompted him to go for a sweep at a full ball, only to be caught in front.
Ashwin then threw caution to the winds, feasting on some insipid short bowling from Roach to get to a half-century and add some more runs for the team. It was only when the pacer targeted the stumps and changed the pace that the stumps were rattled.