Ishant takes two as WI A struggle to 79/4 at lunch

Coolidge (Antigua), August 18 

Ishant Sharma grabbed two early wickets as Indians produced a disciplined bowling effort to reduce West Indies A to 79/4 at lunch on the second day of their warm-up game.

Ishant claimed the wickets of opener Jeremy Solozano (9) and one-down Brandon King (4) in his first spell of five overs, while Umesh Yadav too found his rhythm early, dismissing Darren Bravo during his five overs giving away just seven runs. 

Opener Kavem Hodge (45), who was dropped at slips in the third over, held on to one end but the regular loss of wickets at the other end affected the hosts’ innings. Hodge was five runs short of his half-century at the break and giving him company was Jonathan Carter (2). West Indies A trail Indians by 218 runs with six wickets in hand.

Earlier, after a delayed start due to rain, the Indian team declared their first innings at the overnight score of 297/5. In reply, opener Solozano was the first to leave after his flat-footed drive found an edge and landed in the safe hands of KL Rahul as West Indies slipped to 16/1 in 4.2 overs. King (4) was then dismissed in the ninth over when he played a loose drive only to be caught behind by Rishabh Pant and West Indies A were now 30/2. 

On the opening day, Cheteshwar Pujara struck form with a fine century while Rohit Sharma hit 68 as the Indian team scored 297/5. Pujara and Rohit stitched 132 runs for the fourth wicket to take the team to a strong position after being reduced to 89/3 at lunch on Saturday. 

Brief Scores: Indians: 297/5 in 88.5 overs declared (C Pujara 100 retired, R Sharma 68, R Pant 33, H Vihari 37*; J Carter 3/39); WI A: 79/4 in 28 overs (K Hodge 45; I Sharma 2/10, U Yadav 1/7)  — PTI