New Delhi: India and West Indies’ second and final Test match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium went to the final day as the Men in Blue still needed 58 runs to seal the series 2-0. KL Rahul and Sai Sudarshan are unbeaten on 25 and 30, respectively, at the end of Day 4 on Monday, October 13.
The West Indies set a target of 121 runs for the hosts. Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed on eight runs as he fell early in the chase. Although there was an option to extend play by 30 minutes, India had lots of runs left to win the game, so it wasn’t needed.
It has now become a rare occurrence for a Test match in India to extend to Day 5, as the bowlers did their job perfectly to wrap things up in just 3-4 days in Indian conditions.
The last Test match in India to go to a full five days was the New Zealand series in 2024. It was the first game of the three-Test match series in Bengaluru.
Rain spoiled Day 1, and India were bundled out for just 46 runs. In response, New Zealand scored 402 runs, courtesy of Rachin Ravindra’s brilliant century.
India responded well in the third innings by scoring 462 runs, but couldn’t save the Test match and lost the game by eight wickets.
West Indies’ fightback
India forced West Indies to follow on after bundling them for just 248 runs in the first innings. Courtesy of Shai Hope and John Campbell’s fantastic centuries, the Caribbean scored 390 runs in the second innings to force India to bat again in the Test match.
Apart from Hope and Campbell’s tons, it was the visitors’ 10th wicket partnership that ensured India came out to bat on Day 5. Justin Greaves and Jayden Seales made a 79-run stand for the last wicket.
Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the bowlers in the batting-friendly Test match, as he scalped eight wickets, including a five-fer in the game.