India 'A' strike back against West Indies 'A'

MYSORE: The sting in the final session almost ruined what would have been a perfect day for West Indies 'A' in the first unofficial Test against India 'A' at the Gangothri Glades on Wednesday.
Skipper Kirk Edwards (91; 234 mins, 11x4, 1x6) and opener Kraigg Brathwaite (92; 286 mins, 14x4) had batted out of their skins for the best part of two sessions to help West Indies coast to a tea total of 173 for one after being put in to bat.
But India 'A' bowlers struck decisive blows after the tea interval to reduce West Indies to 264 for five at the end of the day's play.
Two brilliant catches gave the unrelenting off-spinner Pervez Rasool his wickets while the hard-working paceman Ishwar Pandey and off-spinner Rajat Paliwal accounted for the other post-tea wickets.
The morning, and afternoon, certainly belonged to West Indies' Test discards Kraigg Brathwaite and skipper Kirk Edwards.
Edwards, who has two Test centuries to his credit including a ton on debut against India in 2011, showed wonderful temperament and maturity as he weathered the home team's three-pronged pace attack on a pitch that had juice in it in this morning.
The tall, gangly Ishwar Pandey made the odd ball rise disconcertingly while Mohammed Shami, who opened the attack with Pandey, and Ashok Dinda initially found encouragement in the surface.
But, Edwards and Brathwaite, batting in un-Caribbean fashion, displayed tremendous cricketing maturity as they played a waiting game. The good deliveries were kept out and many others were allowed to pass unchallenged to the wicketkeeper. In-between, they milked the attack for singles.
Skipper Cheteshwar Pujara employed attacking fields for his pacemen.
Yet, the West Indies duo refused to get drawn into finding runs in the vacant spaces. The first 50 came in 21.2 overs - a reflection of the dogged defensive play adopted by the West Indies.
Opener Kieron Powell, a southpaw, had perished in only the third over when Shami trapped him in front despite bowling from over the wicket. That brought together Brathwaite and Edwards who went about throttling Indian enthusiasm.
Brief Scores:
West Indies 'A' 264-5 in 90 overs (Brathwaite 92, Edwards 91, Deonarine 28, Walton 26; Rasool 2/60, Paliwal 1/28) vs India 'A'.