Port of Spain (West Indies): Ace batter Virat Kohli equalled Sir Don Bradman's record of 29 centuries in India's commendable first innings total of 438 but their bowlers found it a tough grind as West Indies ended the second day of the second Test at 86 for 1 here.
34-year-old Kohli, who missed out on a ton in the first Test of the two-match series, made amends with an elegant 121 in 206 balls, his 76th hundred in his 500th international appearance. In the process, the Delhi batter Kohli also added 159 runs for the fifth wicket with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (61 off 152 balls), who also scored his 19th half-century in the five-day format.
Ravichandran Ashwin (56 off 78 balls), with four centuries against the same opposition, did look comfortable against both spin and pace as he played some adventurous ramp shots off pacer Kemar Roach to help himself to a half-century and take the visitors closer to 450.
Also read: 2nd Test: West Indies show some fight before Virat Kohli puts India ahead on opening day
West Indies openers displayed a solid defensive game before Ravindra Jadeja (1/12 in 10 overs) prevailed after playing with young Tagenarine Chanderpaul's (33 off 95 balls) patience. The southpaw tried to loft a delivery that landed on the rough and the thick outside edge was taken at point by Ravichandran Ashwin.
West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite (37 batting, 128 balls) and stodgy Chanderpaul survived nearly 35 out of 41 overs without much difficulty. They mostly defended with a few boundaries in between. Brathwaite had debutant Kirk Mckenzie (14 batting, 25 balls) for his company when stumps were drawn.
There was no carry off the surface and the inexperienced pace attack of Mohammed Siraj (0/23 in 7 overs), Jaydev Unadkat (0/12 in 6 overs) and Mukesh Kumar (0/10 in 4 overs) couldn't produce anything 'out of the box' on a literally dead track. Ravichandran Ashwin (0/29 in 14 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja were certainly better bets for providing a breakthrough but the West Indies opening duo gave a much better account of themselves compared to the first Test.
Kohli's first overseas ton in nearly five years: The first session of the second day undoubtedly belonged to Kohli, who was hardly troubled by any of the West Indies pacers, having taken 77 runs in singles, doubles and triples apart from the 11 fours in his innings.
Starting the day at 87, Kohli reached his century in the first half an hour while dispatching a Kemar Roach delivery wide of point with a stretched square drive. The satisfaction of scoring his first overseas Test hundred in half a decade was palpable, having last scored a ton on foreign soil in Perth (Australia) in 2018. Kohli's greatness lay in his game awareness as the cornerstone of his innings was 45 singles and 13 doubles in energy-sapping conditions.
He would be pleased because as many as nine of his 11 boundaries were hit on the off-side with the signature cover drive coming out of his closet time and again. To his relief, the absence of off-break Rahkeem Cornwall did make things a bit easier as left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican (3/89 in 39 overs), despite his restrictive lines, did not get a lot of purchase off the surface. Kohli got an able ally in Jadeja, who got another half-century and reaffirmed his status as a batting all-rounder in overseas conditions. Once he was run out and Jadeja also followed him after being rightly given out by TV Umpire despite the DRS replay glitch, Ravichandran Ashwin was the lone ranger with a well-compiled half-century.
One person who would be disappointed will be Ishan Kishan (25), who played a tame shot after getting set and lost out on gaining a clear advantage over Kona Bharat. (With agency inputs)
