India’s opening pair of captain Rohit Sharma and debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal batted through a leisurely morning session and were closing in on the paltry West Indies total of 150 at lunch on the second day of the first Test in Dominica on Thursday.
Resuming at the overnight position of 80 without loss, the duo added another 66 runs to reach the break at 146 without loss. Sharma resumes in the afternoon on 68 with Jaiswal on 62.
Jaiswal was first to fifty, pulling a short ball from first-change bowler Alzarri Joseph to the midwicket boundary after 40 minutes’ play. However he was troubled by the appreciable turn being extracted by recalled off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall yet managed to survive.
Sharma overtook his new partner during the second hour of the session, the best of his scoring shots being a flick off the legs for six over midwicket off Joseph.
Routed by the Indian spin tandem of Ravichandran Ashwin (5 for 60) and Ravindra Jadeja (3 for 26) on day one, West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite even tried himself and debutant batsman Alick Athanaze in hope of a breakthrough from their part-time spin offerings after Cornwall and the other first-choice spinner, Jomel Warrican, could not separate the pair.
