West Indies pacer Jayden Seales wouldn't have expected to break a massive record with the bat during Day 4 of the second Test against India, but surprisingly that is exactly what happened. The 24-year-old came out at No.11 for the Windies and unexpectedly ended up forming a key partnership alongside Justin Greaves. The two frustrated the Indian bowlers immensely and also took the visitors' lead over the 100-run mark.
Seales and Greaves' important stand
Seales smacked a four and a six each during his time at the crease while on the other hand, his batting partner Justin Greaves scored 50 runs from 85 deliveries. The 79-run stand between the two was eventually broken by Jasprit Bumrah, who got the wicket of Seales for 32 runs and this saw West Indies get bundled out for 390 runs. They only managed to set up a modest target of 121 for the hosts, but if it was not for the last-stitch partnership, the target would have been even lower.
Seales' knock of 32 saw him break a 21-year-old record that was held by former Bangladesh cricketer Talha Jubair. The West Indian pacer has now become the player to post the highest score by a No.11 batter in the second innings of a Test against India. Seales' previous best against India came in the previous Test at the Narendra Modi stadium where he scored 22 runs in West Indies' second innings of the match.
Highest score by a No. 11 batter in the 2nd innings of a Test match against India
1. Jayden Seales (West Indies) - 32
2. Talha Jubair (Bangladesh) - 31
3. Alan Hurst (Australia) - 26
4. Allan Donald (South Africa) - 26
5. Devendra Bishoo (West Indies) - 26
6. Jayden Seales (West Indies) - 22
West Indies' impressive fight back
Meanwhile, West Indies managed to make a great comeback after India enforced follow-on during Day 3. The duo of John Campbell and Shai Hope scored brilliant hundreds and massively helped the visitors in taking the lead for the first time in the match during Day 4. In the end, even though Roston Chase & Co. failed to post a fighting target on the board, it was still nothing short of a fantastic batting effort from them.