Kohli’s double hundred and Ashwin’s ton extend India’s dominance at Antigua
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A maiden first-class double hundred from skipper Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin’s century helped India declare their first innings on 566/8 against West Indies at Antigua. The home side lost opener Rajendra Chandrika before the end of play on Day 2 and are trailing the visitors by 535 runs.
Brief Scores : India 566/8 declared in 161.5 overs (Kohli 200(283), Ashwin 113(253); Brathwaite 3/65) vs West Indies 31/1 in 16 overs (Chandrika 16(43); Shami 1/6) trail by 535 runs
Starting from their overnight score of 302/4, skipper Kohli and Ashwin wasted no time in the middle and looked for runs from the very start to take the Indian innings forward. Although Ashwin enjoyed some luck during the first hour of play, Kohli was clinical and efficient. With the Windies on the back foot, the Delhiite stepped on the accelerator and scored at more than four runs an over.
Kohli, who scored the century on the first day, made the second day also memorable by scoring his maiden first-class double hundred. After scoring rapidly in the first hour, the Indian skipper slowed down a bit when he reached the 190s and took his time to reach the 200-mark. He strolled to the double hundred with an easy single through midwicket off Roston Chase just before the lunch break. Kohli also scripted history with his double ton and became the first Indian captain to do so in an away Test.
Also, read : Virat Kohli | Evolution of a brattish talent to a global superstar
But, right after the lunch break, Kohli dragged one on to the stumps from Shannon Gabriel to end his stay at the crease. After Kohli’s departure, the run rate slowly dipped back to normalcy, and the men in the middle – Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha – did not seem much bothered by it as they scored 71 runs in 24.4 overs. Saha tried to break the monotony and walked back to the pavilion after getting stumped off Brathwaite for 40.
By that time, Ashwin had reached the 90s. With an aggressive Amit Mishra at the other end, the off-spinner quickly reached his third Test hundred with a whip to the leg side boundary off
With 16 overs remaining in the day, India started with their pacers in a bid to dismantle the Windies batting line-up. Openers Rajendra Chandrika and Kraigg Brathwaite carefully played out Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav to make a thirty-run partnership, but Mohammad Shami found an edge off Chandrika’s bat just before the end of play to give India a breakthrough. At the end of play, the home side were 31/1 with Brathwaite and
