IND A v WI A, 2nd Unofficial Test, Day 1-Review: Sloppy India A bowlers help Windies A get to a good total

After the 1st Unofficial Test between India A and West Indies A ended up being a draw, the two teams locked horns in the 2nd Test on Tuesday. This Test is being played at the Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton. Both the sides made quite a few changes going into this game. While India A made five changes, West Indies A made three changes.

For India A, all the four players who were warming the bench for the first game were given a chance. Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ankit Bawne, Mohammed Siraj and Rajneesh Gurbani were picked in place of Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Rajpoot and Navdeep Saini. Furthermore, Rishabh Pant, who was added to the squad, later on, was picked in the side in place of the regular keeper Srikar Bharat.

West Indies A, on the other hand, brought in Vishaul Singh, Romario Shepherd, Oshane Thomas in place of  Chandrapaul Hemraj, Chemar Holder and Rahkeem Cornwall. Here is how the things proceeded on the first day of the second unofficial Test:

India A bowlers leak quite a few extras as WI-A end the day with a decent total

Windies A skipper Shamarh Brooks won the toss and opted to bat first. West Indies started the innings on a good note. The openers stitched together a partnership of 49 for the first wicket. While John Campbell made 41, his partner Devon Thomas scored 27. Windies were going well at 114/2. However, Shahbaz Nadeem got India back into the game by picking two wickets in the same over. All of a sudden, they were down to 114/4.

Jermaine Blackwood was dismissed for 12 while Sunil Ambris was out for a duck, both bowled by Nadeem. Furthermore, Jayant Yadav dismissed Vishaul Singh who took 63 balls to score 8 runs. Immediately then, Mohammed Siraj chipped in with two quick wickets too. He dismissed Raymond Reifer and Romario Shepherd for 11 runs and 5 runs respectively.

Take a bow skipper!

West Indies were down to 222/8. India could have easily restricted them for a low score. However, Windies A skipper Shamarh Brooks took the onus upon himself to take his team to a good total. He scored a brilliant century and was unbeaten on 121. With some support from Sheman Lewis, he added 70 runs for the ninth wicket. Lewis was dismissed for 18 runs by Siraj. At the close of play, Windies A were 301/9 and will look to push the total further as much as possible.

The Indian bowlers were absolutely sloppy on the day. They gifted the West Indies A team quite a few runs. As many as 51 extras were conceded in the innings which could prove to be costly later on. Even if the leg-byes are not considered, the bowlers conceded away 32 extras in the game which is unacceptable. Nine no-balls were bowled in the innings. Rishabh Pant‘s glovework was pathetic as he gave away the opposition 21 runs in the form of byes.

Brief Scores:

WI A: 301/9 in 90 overs (Shamarh Brooks 121*, John Campbell 41, Shahbaz Nadeem 3/42)