India’s bowlers had set the stage for a comfortable win but Justin Greaves and Jayden Seales put up a doughty rearguard stand to stall the home team’s march till the fifth day in the second Test at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday.
The pair added 79 runs for the last wicket and swelled West Indies’ lead to 120 runs, a total far exceeding expectations given the tailspin the West Indies innings went into after the fall of Shai Hope (103, 214b, 12×4, 2×6) and John Campbell (115, 199b, 12×4, 3×6).
Their third-wicket partnership that had commenced after tea on the third day persisted in the morning session. Both batters ended their century droughts and cast a pall over India’s plan of a straightforward win.
For the umpteenth time, Campbell survived a leg-before appeal and a DRS check courtesy of an inside edge. He quickly moved past it though and slog swept Ravindra Jadeja over long on to notch up his maiden Test century, nearly seven years after his debut.
Jasprit Bumrah gave reverse swing a shot but could only manage close calls, including the lbw appeal against Campbell. Mohammed Siraj was much shorter and was punished for it when Campbell slashed him past point.
However, the southpaw was responsible for his own demise, going for a reverse sweep against Jadeja. Learning from Campbell’s previous escapes through the one-and-a-half sessions, Jadeja delivered around the wicket and forced the impact in the line of the stumps.
Roston Chase opted for a slog over midwicket against Washington Sundar to continue West Indies’ confrontation. Undaunted by the fatal end that the shot led Campbell to, Chase brandished a reverse sweep against Washington to pick another four.
On the other side of the lunch break, Hope enjoyed a stroke of luck to get his first hundred in eight years as his edge off Siraj crept low and beat second slip. Siraj, however, had the last laugh with an inside edge that he drew off an innocuous length delivery to castle him.
Tevin Imlach took the onus to accelerate and charged down to Kuldeep Yadav twice in an over and picked ten runs through long on.
West Indies’ slide was initiated by Kuldeep, who exploited the low bounce of a day four wicket. Imlach was left helpless to a delivery that skidded on perilously low and pinned him in front of the stumps. Chase met a similar fate against a delivery that came lower than expected, only he got an inside edge to short midwicket.
Khary Pierre could not blame the conditions for his fall, going for an aimless hack across the line against Kuldeep and holing out to mid off off his toe end.
Bumrah accounted for the next two wickets in successive overs and was on course to wrap up the tail until Greaves and Seales came up with an obstinate refusal. They hardly resorted to big hits, with Seales’ slog-swept six off Kuldeep being the one of the few aerial hits through the nearly 22-overs-long partnership.
Greaves drilled a full toss from Bumrah past mid off but for a greater part of his unbeaten 85-ball 50 he opted to pick runs using the spread out fields.
Seales pummeled a bouncer from Bumrah through square but in the same over committed the error of flicking through the air and picked the same fielder that he had beaten moments earlier.
Yashasvi Jaiswal showed an inclination to go after the 121-run pursuit and spare himself the effort of walking out one more time tomorrow. He attempted a heave through the on side on the first delivery from Seales. Despite missing the first shot, Jaiswal accumulated eight runs with a cover drive and by gliding a wide yorker through the cordon.
Jaiswal eventually avoided the need to come to the crease once more, albeit with his dismissal. He attempted a loft over long on in the second over from Jomel Warrican, but got caught just inside the boundary.
KL Rahul and B. Sai Sudharsan learnt from his mistake, opting for a risk-averse approach for the remaining 17 overs of the day. Their unbeaten 54-run partnership left India at 63 for one, only 58 short of a win.
Published on Oct 13, 2025
