By: Tarish Bhatt
Indian Cricket Team’s first practice match against West Indies Cricket Board President XI ended in a draw at St. Kitts’ Warner Park. The Indian team got a decent practice in the first of the two tour games, before the commencement of Test series against the West Indies.
Indian bowlers bowled a total of 83 overs on the second day to acclimatise themselves with the conditions. Amit Mishra was the pick of the bowlers, and finished with four wickets. He ripped through West Indies’ XI middle-order.
Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav picked a wicket each, while Ishant Sharma went wicketless in his 13 overs. All four Indian seamers bowled atleast 13 overs in the game. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin didn’t feature in the first practice match.
Shai Hope was the pick of the Windies batsmen and scored a patient, unbeaten century, while Jomel Warrican finished with a half-century. The Windies XI posted 281 runs in their first innings in 87 overs.
Earlier, on the first day, Indian Cricket Team made 258 in their first innings. Openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan made half-centuries before being retired out. Rohit Sharma, too, got decent batting practice by slamming a fifty, while Cheteshwar Pujara also spent good time in the middle.
Skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane didn’t get much of a practice. They both got out cheaply.
