Vihari nears hundred as India close on big score
Hanuma
Vihari was desperately looking for 100 elusive tests as India reached 336 for
seven at noon on the second day of the second and final Test against the West
Indies at Sabina Park on Saturday.
Rejected
At 93 on the last day of the first test a week earlier in Antigua, The 25-year-old right-hander was 84 at the interval, doubling his score of the
night on another beautiful morning where he needed more than luck. To survive the
constant search for the West Indies on steep terrain.
Vihari
will resume in the next session in partnership with Ishant Sharma, after
his home captain, Jason Holder, and his debutant, Rahkeem Cornwall, offered the
Caribbean side hope of limiting India's total.
Following
an exceptional first day of work when his figures of 39 and 20 scored by 39
stood out in the Caribbean attack, Holder hit with the very first ball of the second day, breaking the defence of Rishabh Pant to give hosts an immediate
boost.
New
Batsman Ravindra Jadeja helped Vihari score 38 points for the seventh. However,
he struggled to limit his natural tendency to attack and died for 16 years in
an attempt to lift Cornwall's persistence, with Darren Bravo grabbing the comfortable catch to earn the newcomer a deserved second wicket.
Cornwall
should have had Vihari's crucial wicket soon after, but John Campbell
could not seize the opportunity to dive to the right.
At
68, while enjoying this opportunity, Vihari was grateful to be pushed back by
technology ten points later, while Holder's verdict against him was overturned
during the review of the televised replays.
Sharma
I also enjoyed good fortune as he could have been exhausted twice, but for the
misplaced throws from the infield.
given
their struggle against a quality Indian speed attack in the first test, the task of the West Indies after lunch is not only to deny Vihari a turn of the
century, but also to prevent visitors from getting close to the brand of 400
runs an inning.
