Jasprit Bumrah once again proved why he is one of the most lethal bowlers in world cricket, as the Indian fast bowler struck early in the post-lunch session to break the West Indies’ stubborn ninth-wicket partnership between Khary Pierre and Anderson Phillip in the ongoing second Test in Delhi.
After the West Indies had resisted India’s morning charge with a gritty 42-run stand, Jasprit Bumrah wasted no time in sending Khary Pierre back to the pavilion right after the lunch break. Pierre had battled hard and frustrated India’s bowlers with solid defense and a few boundaries.
Jasprit Bumrah ends the tailenders’ resistance with a perfect delivery
Indian captain Shubman Gill handed the ball to Jasprit Bumrah to begin the post-lunch session, and the bowler didn’t disappoint the team. After being hit for a boundary by Pierre, Jasprit Bumrah clean bowled the West Indies bowler for 23 runs off 46 balls at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Jasprit Bumrah bowled a perfect delivery around off stump that gained a late reverse swing sharply, beating the bat and smashing into the off stump. The breakthrough ended the 42-run resistance by the tailenders and gave India a perfect chance to enforce the follow-on.
West Indies show grit in Delhi Test
Meanwhile, the West Indies side showed remarkable resistance on Day 3 of the ongoing second Test against India in Delhi. For the first time in their last 16 innings, they forced the opposition to take the second new ball, showing their determination to fight back against India’s bowlers.
Anderson Phillip has been the standout for the visitors, facing 87 balls in this innings so far, the most by any West Indies batter in the series. Overall, the West Indies batted for 75 overs in this innings, which was the longest time they have spent at the crease in their last 16 Test innings.
Phillip becomes a big headache for the touring side as the hosts have appealed and reviewed against the Trinidadian fast bowler, but nothing worked. But Jayden Seales could not hold the fort from the other side, and they were bowled out for 248 runs.
Kuldeep Yadav’s five-wicket haul leads India to enforce follow-on against West Indies
Phillip ended up unbeaten at 24 runs off 93 balls. Kuldeep Yadav claimed a brilliant five-wicket haul as he trapped Jayden Seales lbw for 13. The left-arm wrist spinner beat Seales’ defense with a clever googly that struck the pads right next to the stumps.
Seales opted for a review, but replays confirmed the ball was crashing into the wickets. Later, India decided to enforce the follow-on. There are 49 overs left in Day 3’s play, so it will be interesting to see whether the West Indies can take the game to the fourth day against India.
Notably, the last time an Indian captain enforced the follow-on with a lead of less than 300 runs was back in 2015. Virat Kohli did it against Bangladesh in Fatullah, where an entire day’s play had been washed out due to rain.