Campbell, Hope Help WI Reach 252/3 at Lunch on Day 4
New Delhi: John Campbell paid the price for his ill-considered shot selection but Shai Hope made a straight-faced defense of leading the West Indies to 252 for 3 at lunch on the fourth day of the second Test against India on Monday.
West Indies now need 18 more runs to get India back into bat, but more importantly the tame nature of the track has made it challenging for the spinners.
Campbell (115 off 199 balls) and Hope (92 batting) did not face any trouble in the first hour of play. Ravindra Jadeja (1/75 in 25 overs) did not look even half as effective on tracks that turned square, with almost no offer of spin. Jasprit Bumrah at the other end was steady but not exactly threatening.
Campbell dropped Jadeja to one knee over the cow corner to complete his first Test hundred in 25 matches, having scored more than just three fifties in the previous 49 innings.
Problems using the shoulder and increased delivery speed meant there was no possibility of a return. When one tried to fly and spin, it wasn’t even going to the batsman, who had all the time in the world to get out of the field and maneuver on either side of the wicket.
The Campbell-Hope duo had added 177 runs for the third wicket and looked good for a few more, the only way a wicket could come was through poor shot selection by the Windies batsmen.
The drinks break affected the rhythm and Jadeja, operating at the Ambedkar Stadium end, finally showed the impact of the green. Campbell unnecessarily took a reverse sweep and delivered a straight shot towards the leg midline which was settled leg front.
Skipper Roston Chase (23 innings) came on and lifted Washington Sundar to long-on for six before he and Hope added another 40 runs for an uninterrupted fourth wicket stand heading into lunch.
Hope changed her stance from lying on her side to slightly open chest. Although he had to block a few shots, this allowed him to defend tenaciously. For Washington, he would throw his front leg outside the line of stump and for Jadeja, he would drag it outside leg stump to thwart the spin and eliminate the chance of lbw.
