Kohli, Agarwal fifties drive India after Holder shines

Kingston: Fifties from Virat Kohli and opener Mayank Agarwal drove India to a reasonable position on a back-and-forth opening day of the second Test against West Indies here at Sabina Park on Friday.

Put in to bat, India finished the day on 264/5, with their captain having starred with a 

163-ball 76, before being dismissed by a fantastic leg-cutter from Jason Holder, West

 Indies' best bowler on the day. Agarwal, the other half-centurion, scored a 127-ball 55.

India began the day swiftly. They scored at around six an over, before KL Rahul 

edged Holder to Rakheem Cornwall, one of two debutants for the West Indies, 

alongside wicket-keeper Jahmar Hamilton. 

Holder called Cornwall into the attack within the first hour, and the off-spinner quickly took his maiden international wicket, having Cheteshwar Pujara caught by Sharmarh Brooks at backward point for 6.

This bought Kohli to the crease, and he and Agarwal added 69 for the third wicket, helping India regain control. Agarwal notched up his third Test half-century, before becoming the second batsman to fall to the caught-Cornwall-bowled-Holder combination, an ICC report said.

Thereafter, another promising partnership developed, this one between Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane, who had scored a match-winning century in the second innings of the first Test. Rahane watched Kohli go past fifty, but himself fell well short of the mark, as Kemar Roach found his edge, giving Hamilton his first catch in Test cricket.

Kohli had looked set for a hundred, but fell 18 overs before the end of play. It brought together the relatively inexperienced duo of Hanuma Vihari and Rishabh Pant, but they rose to the challenge, taking India through to stumps with an unbeaten stand of 62.Vihari finished the day on 42 not out. Pant, meanwhile, had settled in with a 64-ball 27 not out.(UNI)