A maiden Test century by Shamarh Brooks and wily spin bowling yesterday put the West Indies in firm command of the one-off Test against Afghanistan.
Brooks made 111 as the West Indies managed a lead of 90 after they were 277 all out in the second session of day two in the northern Indian city of Lucknow, which has been hit by heavy air pollution over the past month.
Spinners Rakheem Cornwall and Roston Chase then took three wickets each to leave Afghanistan tottering at 109-7 at stumps. Afghanistan lead by just 19 runs in their second innings.
Opener Javed Ahmadi made 62 before falling to Chase’s off-spin on the final delivery of the day dominated by the West Indies, who resumed on 68-2 in response to Afghanistan’s 187.
Cornwall, the heaviest man in Test cricket at 140kg and 1.96m tall, rattled the Afghanistan top order and improved his match haul to 10 wickets.
The 26-year-old, who returned figures of 7-75 with his off-spin on day one, struck in three successive overs.
He trapped Ibrahim Zadran for 23 after a brisk start by Afghanistan’s openers and then got Rahmat Shah and Asghar Afghan back in the pavilion for scores of 0.
Chase took his three wickets in three overs.
Brooks, who started the day on his overnight score of 19, seemed undaunted as he piled on the runs without getting much support from his fellow batsmen.
He was finally bowled by debutant spinner Amir Hamza.
Brooks was involved in two crucial partnerships, including an 82-run third-wicket stand with overnight partner John Campbell, who made 55.
Brooks, playing just his third Test after making his debut against India in August, also put together 74 runs with Shane Dowrich, who made 42.
Amir combined with skipper Rashid Khan to mop up the tail as the umpires called for an early tea. Rashid Khan claimed three wickets with his leg-spin, while left-arm wrist-spinner Zahir Khan took two.
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