North Sound (Antigua): Virat Kohli completed a superb double century on the second day of the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium here on Friday.
The Indian skipper reached the double mark of 200, with 24 boundaries studding his 283-ball stay in the middle. The maiden double century for the Delhi lad, it was also the first double hundred by an Indian captain overseas. Ravichandran Ashwin was the other major contributor with 113 of 253 deliveries. Amit Mishra was the last man to get out after scoring 53. Mohammed Shami remained unbeaten on 17.
Meanwhilr Kohli declared the first innings after his side got to a mammoth 566/8 from 161.5 on the second day. Kraigg Brathwaite was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts returning figures of 3/65. Among the West Indies bowlers, leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo was also successful with figures of 3/131 from 35 overs.
Resuming at the overnight score of 302/4, Kohli and Ashwin proceeded to strenghen India’s position with some sensible batting. Playing on a pitch well suited for batting under the sunny Carribbean sky, the duo studiously avoided taking too much risk, focussing instead on keeping the run rate ticking on at a steady slow rate. They were helped on in no small measure by the toothless West Indies bowling attack.
Kohli and Ashwin managed to find the gaps at regular intervals and the latter brought up his century in style. Kohli was also going great guns at the other end. The Indian skipper, who resumed the second day on a personal score of 143, reached the 200-run mark.
Kohli registered the highest score by an Indian captain, going past the previous mark set by Mohammad Azharuddin, who made 192 against New Zealand at Auckland in February 1990.
Meanwhile, West Indies managed to crawl their way to 31/1 in 16 overs at stumps on the second day of the first Test against India at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium here on Friday. Kraigg Brathwaite and Devendra Bishoo stayed put at 11 and 0 respectively. India’s only successful bowler was pacer Mohammed Shami who managed to get rid of Rajendra Chandrika for 16.
