India’s young guns Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant ensured India ended day two of the second Test against the West Indies in Hyderabad with the upper hand.
After yesterday’s great second half of the day to resurrect their first innings, the West Indies could add only 16 runs to their overnight tally this morning. It did, however, give Roston Chase the chance to complete his fourth Test century, ending on 106 off 189 balls (eight fours, one six).
Umesh Yadav wrapped up Chase and the tail, ending with 6-88 as the West Indies closed on 311 off 101.4 overs.
KL Rahul struggled for 25 balls to scrape together four runs, and Cheteshwar Pujara was equally cautious in scoring 10 off 41 balls. However, both served as the perfect foil for the high-flying 18-year-old Shaw, playing only his second Test, after his 134 on debut against the West Indies in the first Test.
Shaw dominated the opening partnership of 61 with Rahul and was equally brutal in taking India to 98 off 19 overs in partnership with Pujara.
Shaw has been criticised for being too loose at the crease and not showing a willingness to leave wider balls outside off-stump, but he seemed to pay no heed to such opinions as he again dominated the West Indies bowling attack, racing to 70 off just 53 balls (11 fours, one six) to move past 200 Test runs in only his second innings.
Captain Virat Kohli played an easy cameo, scoring 45 off 78 balls, before Ajinkya Rahane (75 not out off 174 balls, six fours) and Pant (85 not out off 120 balls, 10 fours, two sixes) shared an unbroken stand of 146 for the fifth wicket to end the day on 308-4 off just 81 overs. India are now perfectly set up for a commanding lead that will give them a great opportunity to go 2-0 up in the series unless the West Indies batsmen can rise to the challenge again in their second innings.
Photo: Harry Trump/Getty Images
