Day 3 witnessed rain for the first time as the West Indies crawled to a well-made 229 for 5 against India in the ongoing second Test in the Port of Spain in the Caribbean on Saturday, July 23. Leading the charge for India's bowlers, as usual, was spinner Ravichandran Ashwin but he was ably helped by pacer Mohammed Siraj, who made the old ball talk playing against a defensive West Indies.
At the end of the day's play, only 67 overs were bowled as it looks like the West Indies batters are looking for a draw. They managed to add just 143 runs to their score on Day 3, and are still 209 runs behind India's first-innings score of 438.
Ashwin bowled the 'ball of the series' to get the wicket of skipper Kraigg Brathwaite after he scored 75 off 235 balls while Siraj got the wicket of Joshua Da Silva with a perfect in-cutter just at the stroke of rain-break to end the day on an even keel on the flattest of decks.
Brathwaite frustrated the Indian attack before the world's No. 1 Test bowler got his wicket with a magical moment that brought the smiles back in the Indian camp. Toiling for close to 73 overs on a track which at best can be called ''dead'', Ashwin (33-10-61-1) bowled a delivery that had flight and required inward drift which was good enough to entice Brathwaite to plonk his front foot for his umpteenth defensive prod.
But to his horror, the ball turned sharply, an off-spinners dream delivery that went between bat and pad to hit the stumps. A compact defensive player, Brathwaite's only fault was pushing his bat slightly ahead of his pad instead of keeping it close. It allowed the ball to exploit the gap to the fullest.
The figures of Ravindra Jadeja at that stage (25-10-37-2) were an indication enough that defending wasn't difficult as he hardly bowled any wicket-taking deliveries during the post-lunch session.
Ashwin also had his moments of frustration when he over-flighted a few deliveries and was dispatched to the boundary.
However, Jadeja had a gun slip fielder in Ajinkya Rahane, who held onto a stunner diving to his left to send back Jermaine Blackwood as he tried to jab at a delivery that took the outside edge of his blade.
Bowling a line which is right on off-stump or shade outside of it, Mukesh bowled a delivery on the fuller side with not enough room to cut which McKenzie (32 off 57 balls) edged it to Ishan Kishan for a regulation catch. McKenzie, who hit four boundaries and a six, looked in fine touch and played with a lot of purpose during his 57-ball stay.
However, one man who would be itching to get into the wickets column will be veteran Saurashtra left-arm pacer Unadkat. The domestic workhorse undoubtedly is the weakest link in the Indian bowling attack as he is the only bowler who is yet to get a wicket after 98 overs.
To be fair, his post-tea spell was the best but a bit more pace on a flat deck would have made him more incisive enough to create problems for the batters. With the next series in South Africa, Unadkat with two wicket-less Tests in the West Indies might find it extremely difficult to hold onto his place in the squad.
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(With PTI Inputs)
