West Indies were showing the pure form of cricket. All the players were not looking in a hurry, they all played patiently. In the T20 era it is hard to see this. Rain interrupted a few times, starting off the match got delayed due to rain and afterwards again the rain interrupted the match. Only 67 overs were played. West Indies made 229/5 at the end of the day.
West Indies only added 143 more runs to their day 2 score. They are still 209 runs behind to the Indian score.
Kirk Mckenzie was the first man who departed on day 3. Mukesh Kumar takes his maiden wicket. Ball slightly touches the bat edge and goes to Ishan Kishan and he makes no mistake. He scored 32 runs. (117-2). Then the patient innings of skipper Brathwaite came to an end. He was seen in highly defensive mode today. Ashwin took his wicket and it was considered as the ‘ball of the series’. He made 75 runs in 235 balls. In his innings it includes 5 fours and 1 six. (157-3).
Next batsman dismissed was Blackwood. In his 20 runs innings he took 92 balls and looked not in a hurry. But Jadeja had some plans and dismissed him. Rahane took a fantastic catch at slips, even Blackwood was a little shocked by seeing the catch. (178-4). Joshua Da Silva was the last man dismissed on day 3. Siraj gets the credit to uproot the middle stumps. He departed after making 10 runs. (208-5).
Alick Athanaze looked solid like a wall as he faced 111 balls and made 37 runs. He is still in the crease at the end along with Jason Holder who is batting at 11 runs.
Jadeja took 2 important wickets while Ashwin and Siraj settled with 1 wicket each.
On the 4th day, the match will start 30 minutes before the scheduled time as the rain damages some overs on the 3rd day. Also it will be amazing to see whether West Indies will still play their defensive game and result in a draw or India will be in a hurry to grab the remaining wickets as early as possible.
Alick Athanaze, West Indies batter, says,
“To be honest, I enjoyed it more than Dominica. It was about rebuilding. I thought there wasn’t as much spin as Dominica. I found that they had a proper bowling set for their plans. It was challenging. When you are in rhythm, the rain comes and you have to start all over again. The plan was to get out there and get a good stride out. I am new to the review system. Easy for me to put it behind. It is all about batting long. We enjoy a challenge. Trying to stick to the basics.”