Kraigg Brathwaite (L) Shivnarine Chanderpaul put up an unbeaten 87-run partnership for the fourth wicket against India © AFP
New Delhi: Nov 6, 2011
Opener Kraigg Brathwaite and Shivnarine Chanderpaul frustrated the Indian bowlers with contrasting unbeaten half-centuries as West Indies took tea at 159 for three on day one of the first cricket Test against India on Sunday.
Brathwaite was batting on 61 off 196 deliveries, while giving him company was the experienced Chanderpaul on 55 off 88, as West Indies added 90 runs for the loss of one wicket in the 32 overs bowled after lunch following skipper Darren Sammy's decision to bat first.
The 18-year-old Barbadian's dogged resistance, during which he found the fence thrice, was very crucial from the West Indies' point of view as India's spin duo of Prgyan Ojha and debutant Ravichandran Ashwin at one stage threatened to run through their middle-order on a Ferozeshah Kotla pitch that seems to have something for the spinners.
After Ojha's double blow in the first session, which saw him remove opener Kieran Powell and Kirk Edwards, Ashwin bowled Darren Bravo right after the lunch break to put the visitors under pressure.
But Brathwaite, along with Chanderpaul, stitched together a handy 87-run partnership for the fourth wicket to steady the West Indian ship.
Even as Brathwaite got his runs with nudges and steers through the third-man region, Chanderpaul looked intent on attacking the bowlers, especially the spinners, against whom he was not afraid to go down the wicket.
After dispatching Umesh Yadav, the second debutant in the Indian team, for two sweetly-timed boundaries, Chanderpaul took Ashwin to the task, cutting him through point for another four.(PTI)
Brief Scores West Indies 159 for 3 (Kraigg Braithwaite 61* Shivnarine Chanderpaul 55*; Pragyan Ojha 2 for 30, R Ashwin 1 for 62) vs India
