Bridgetown, Barbados – West Indies batsmen will again be required to dig deep to keep the team in contention during the Second Digicel Test and Head Coach Ottis Gibson believes they can accomplish the mission.
Only 25.3 overs of play was possible on Wednesday as the Windies moved from 30-3 to 98-5 as heavy rain and bad light affected play at Kensington Oval. The Windies will enter the third day on Thursday 103 runs away from India’s first innings score of 201.
Resuming will be Shiv Chanderpaul, the veteran left-hander in his 132nd Test match, on 20 from 63 balls. With him is the stylish right-hander Marlon Samuels on 21 from 58 balls. The pair came together at 57-5 and has so far added 41 for the sixth wicket. Gibson expects them to carry on the fight.
"We are looking forward to the third day. The second day was badly rain-interrupted and that is history. The pair at the crease has done a good job for us so far and there is plenty ahead of them. We know what Chanderpaul can do and he has showed a lot of application in his innings so far," Gibson said after the day’s play ended.
"Marlon is now coming back into the team and he has looked good so far. He is really looking forward to this opportunity in this Test match and hopefully he will continue to show the fighting skills he has demonstrated. He came in at a crucial time and has played well so far. We expect him to continue. This is a crucial partnership as there is still a lot of cricket left in the match."
Gibson was also full of praise for the bowlers who did a fantastic job on a helpful first day pitch to dismiss the Indians. Ravi Ramapaul was excellent with the new ball and ended with 3-38, rookie leggie Devendra Bishoo again advertised his skills with 3-46 and pacer Fidel Edwards continued his comeback with 3-56.
"The bowlers again did their job very well and they deserve the praise. It is good to see the see them putting in the hard work and getting the rewards."