Published: Jul 31, 2016, 07:15 AM (IST)
Edited: Jul 31, 2016, 05:42 PM (IST)
Jermaine Blackwood leads West Indies’ fightback as they go to lunch at 88 for 4 on Day 1 of the second Test at Kingston, Jamaica. It was Ishant and Mohammed Shami, who had the Caribbeans reeling at 7 for 3 before Blackwood played a brilliant counter-attacking innings studded with seven boundaries and four sixes. He added 81 runs with an unusually subdued Marlon Samuels before being trapped leg-before at the stroke of lunch by Ravichandran Ashwin. This was after skipper Jason Holder won the toss on a damp pitch and elected to bat first. Live Cricket Scorecard: India vs West Indies 2016, 2nd Test at Kingston
Blackwood then joined Samuels in the middle, and suddenly there was a momentum shift as the former brought out his attacking shots. It was in the 11th over that things stepped into high gear, as he smacked Ishant for 14 runs, the last boundary a streaky four that Amit Mishra missed at backward point. The batsman was on 23 then. Spin was introduced in the 12th over as R Ashwin (1-13) came on, but Blackwood went after him as well, smacking 10 runs off his second over. India vs West Indies 2016, 2nd Test, Day 1: Live Cricket Score update
It seemed as there was a continuous barrage of sixes, five of them coming in this first session of play, four from Blackwood alone as West Indies raced past the 50-mark in the 16th over despite their poor start. Their 50-partnership had come off just 75 balls, and in doing so, Blackwood reached his 7th Test fifty off only 47 balls. There were some interesting shouts against Blackwood, who lived dangerously.
(With inputs from PTI)
