Mukesh Kumar picked up his maiden international wicket, inducing an edge off fellow debutant Kirk Mckenzie’s bat on Day III of the second and final Test in Port of Spain.
That delivery from Mukesh turned out to be the last ball of the first session as soon after wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan caught the ball, a downpour began which forced the players out of the ground.
With conditions not getting any better, lunch was taken after barely 55 minutes of play in the first session on Saturday with the West Indies at 117/2 in reply to India’s formidable first-innings total of 438. Captain Kraigg Brathwaite was batting on 49 after a steady 46-run partnership with Mckenzie (32) for the second wicket.
Play resumed around 9.40pm IST and late in the second session, Ravichandran Ashwin bowled a classical off-spinner that beat the defence of Brathwaite and cleaned him up. The Windies were 157/3 then with Jermaine Blackwood (12 batting) and Alick Athanaze (yet to open account) at the crease.
The morning session of Day III certainly belonged to Mukesh, who was relentless in terms of maintaining that line outside off-stump. On Friday, he had bowled only four overs, but even in that short spell, he tried to keep bowling in that off-stump channel to the left-handed Tagenarine and attacked the stumps as well when bowling to right-hander Brathwaite.
On a slow Queen’s Park Oval pitch having barely anything for the quicks, the Windies were off to a solid start with left-hander Mckenzie showing a fair bit of intent. The 22-year-old gave the Windies just the start they needed with two off-drives — one of them hit over cover — and a pull off the more experienced Jaydev Unadkat, all of which earned him a boundary.
Skipper Rohit Sharma then brought Mukesh into the attack and had the off side packed. The Bengal pacer ensured he bowled according to the field.
It was either on the off-stump or just outside: that was the line Mukesh concentrated on. Unable to pierce the field, there seemed to be a hint of impatience in young Mckenzie. Mukesh’s patience paid off as the outside-off-stump line eventually induced a loose stroke from the batsman, much to the pacer’s relief.
