Under much more cloudy conditions than the first day, the WestIndies “A” team seemed to come out on the 2nd day with a directplan to dismiss India “A” immediately
Colin Croft20-Nov-1999Under much more cloudy conditions than the first day, the WestIndies “A” team seemed to come out on the 2nd day with a directplan to dismiss India “A” immediately. India “A’ were resumingon 179-5, with Mohammed Kaif on 30 not out and the moreadventurous wicket-keeper Sameer Dighe on 24 not out. CaptainJimmy Adams started with his fastest bowlers, Nixon McLean andDwight Mais.Twenty one aggressive runs were added to the partnership, in thefirst five overs, ten of them from the bat of Kaif, before thefirst wicket of the morning ended the prospering sixth wicketpartnership at 74.Kaif had hit two flowing fours through the off side, from thebowling of Mais. Mais then got his revenge, inducing an easycatch from a stiff outside edge to the wicket-keeper, WaynePhillip. Kaif out for 40 in over 95, India “A” 190-6.Sameer Dighe, the remaining overnight batsman, soon followed hisovernight partner to the pavilion, but not before he andHarvinder Singh Sodhi had brought up the 200 in the 100th over.With India “A”‘s score on 204, in over 102, Dighe wascomprehensively beaten and bowled by West Indies “A”‘s third fastbowler, Goldwyn Prince, who had replaced the struggling McLean.Dighe had made 32, India “A” 204-7.Murali Kartik was soon bowled, second ball, by Mais, for a”duck”, India “A” 205-8 in over 103.Eight runs later, in over 107, it became 213-9 when Rahul Sanghviwas bowled by McLean for 3; India “A” 213-9.McLean also got the tenth (and final) wicket, ten minutes beforethe luncheon interval, when Dodda Ganesh was out LBW, plumb infront of the stumps, in the 113th over with the score at 226. Hehad made 4.In the meantime, Harvinder Singh Sodhi had contributed a patient,unbeaten and invaluable 20 not out to the eventual total.For the West Indies “A” team, Jamaican fast bowler, Dwight Mais,was the most successful, and the most impressive bowler, getting3-40 from 25 trying overs. There were two wickets each for theWindward Islands fast bowler Nixon McLean, his fellow WindwardIslander, leg-spinner Rawl Lewis and Leeward Islands fast bowlerGoldwyn Prince, who was also impressive in his firstinternational outing.Lunch was taken with the West Indies “A” team on 5-0 from thesingle over bowled before the interval, by orthodox leg-spinner,Rahul Sanghvi. The not out batsmen were Darren Ganga on 5 andBrenton Parchment on 0.The lunch interval was extended when the rains bagan drizzlingand play was not resumed until 1:15 Eastern Caribbean time, 35minutes behind schedule.Immediately, India “A” thought that they should have had success.In the 5th over, Umpire Terrence Birbal turned down a veryconfident appeal for LBW against Parchment as he shuffled acrossthe stumps. The batsman might just have been hit out side of offstump, and got the benefit of the doubt.In the very next over, Ganga survived an even more confident andvociferous appeal, this time for caught behind, the bowler beingthe hard working Dodda Ganesh. Only the umpire, Zaimul Maccumand the batsmen were not convinced that Ganga had edged thedelivery to the wicket-keeper.Ganesh and India “A” did not have to wait much longer for theirfirst success. In over 8, with Ganga on 8, he glanced ratherlazily at a delivery from Ganesh pitched on the leg stump, andonly presented the energetic wicket-keeper, Sameer Dighe, with agood leg-side catch, 12-1.Leeward Islands Sylvester Joseph then joined Parchment and theyboth played the faster bowlers, Dodda Ganesh and Harvinder SinghSodhi, well and positively. However, both batsmen were somewhattentative to the orthodox left arm leg-spin of Murali Kartik andRahul Sanghvi, and the off-spin of India “A”‘s captain,Hrishikesh Kanitkar.Joseph and Parchment saw the West Indies “A” score to 53-1 beforeParchment misread a quicker delivery from Sanghvi, got a thickinside edge onto the pad, only to be well snapped up by MohammedKaif at forward short leg. West Indies “A” 53-2 in 23 overs,Parchment out for a struggling 15.Jimmy Adams, the West Indies “A” captain, then came to the creaseand immediately seemed to bring some confidence for his youngerpartner. They sprinted singles and two’s, Adams especiallynegotiating the spin well. His pads seemed extremely white, andbroad, to the spinners.Sylvester Joseph, in the meantime, grew in stature and startedplaying some flowing drives, none more authoritative than the onewhich took him from 40 to 44. It was hit with great timing andauthority back over the head of the bowler, Kanitkar.Adams and Joseph had brought up the West Indies “A” 100 in 39overs and looked set for a larger partnership, . Then MuraliKartik, easily the bowler who gave the West Indies “A” teambatsmen the most trouble, struck with the partnership worth 64.Adams played forward to a well flighted leg spinner. It bounceda bit, took the pad and glove, and ended up in the waiting handsof Mohammed Kaif to give him his second catch at short leg.Adams had made an aggressive 35; West Indies “A” 117-3 in over45.That could have been even worse for West Indies “A” if India”A”‘s wicket-keeper had taken two almost consecutive catchesoffered by Joseph.After Joseph had notched up a confident half century, includingfive 4’s, he seemed to lose concentration after losing hispartner, Adams. He drove at Ganesh when he was 55, and was badlydropped, the ball falling between the wicket-keeper and the slip,Kanitkar. Neither seemed ready to take the chance.In the very next over, bowled by Kartik, Joseph was beaten withturn and edged into the wicket-keeper’s gloves. This chance toowas put down.Ganesh did get a second wicket, though. He had Chris Gayleedging, playing away from his body, and this time the Indian “A”wicket-keeper made no mistake. Gayle had made only one, WestIndies “A” 127-4.At 131-4, the umpires decided that the light was sufficientlypoor for them to call off the game for the day, another ten oversyet to be bowled of the day’s allotment. Sylvester Joseph wasstill unbeaten with 56 and young Barbadian Ryan Hinds on 2 notout.India “A”‘s best bowler, on paper, was fast bowler Dodda Ganesh,with 2-16 from 9 overs, but the most troublesome bowler, from thebatsmen’s perspective, must have been orthodox left armleg-spinner Murali Kartik, who finished with 1-36 from 17 overs.Thus ended a good day’s cricket, an even tussle between two goodteams. The next two days could be very interesting indeed.