India vs West Indies: Hosts' solid reply sets up real challenge for Virat Kohli and co

The West Indies team had their best day of this Test series against India so far, as they picked up the last five Indian first innings wickets for the addition of just 120 runs, and then reached 107 for the loss of one wicket at the close. It was a welcome change to see them competing when the match was still alive as a contest.

Having had the unexpected happen at the end of the Jamaica Test, the second in the series, when the West Indies secured a draw and then watching some riveting cricket on the first day of this St Lucia Test, this series returned to type for the first two hours of day two, before the game provided some genuine entertainment post lunch.

The cricket throughout this series has rarely been enthralling, and the opening exchanges were ponderous. This West Indies bowling attack are hardworking, but they seriously lack any real wicket taking threat. As a result they bowl defensive lines and hope for a mistake from the opposition.

For the first 32 overs of day two, there was no mistake from the India pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha, as they both cruised to Test hundreds in a partnership that was worth 213 from 434 balls. Having come together at 126-5, they took India from a position where they were in danger of losing the game to one where they could consider themselves in charge.

It was a fine effort, but if you were to be critical (and this is being very critical) they could have shown more attacking intent. The first hour of the day saw them score just 21 runs, although they accelerated in the second half of the morning session, as they added 84 to their overnight total before lunch.

But they were well set and had the chance to put this game completely out of the West Indies’ reach, and they have the talent to do that. What came after their stand, however, was broken and made their reticent to attack somewhat more justifiable as the tail crumbled.

It was just after the break that Saha and Ashwin moved to their hundreds, Saha’s first in Tests and Ashwin’s fourth. Both men should be extremely proud of their innings and that stand. Without it, India could have been dismissed for less than 200 and ended up in real trouble. The dropped catch that saved Ashwin on 35 has cost the West Indies dearly.

The importance of that stand was given a further exclamation point as India lost their final five wickets for just 14 runs, with Miguel Cummins getting three of them. Having waited 281 balls for his first wicket, Cummins claimed three in 10 balls as India went from 339 for five to 354 all out, as life was breathed back into this Test after that dull first session. It was the short ball that once again took the wickets as the extra bounce that the excellent Gros Islet pitch provided aided the West Indies.

It was a decent total, on a pitch that still has plenty in it for the quicker men and it certainly represented a brilliant recovery after the rejigged top-order had struggled on the first morning. Quite how good a batting effort it was would be decided by how well the West Indies did when they were given a go at batting, and they made a decent start.

The West Indies had dispensed with the services of opener Rajendra Chandrika, although bearing in mind quite how badly he has struggled, there is a chance that he asked them to leave him out. His six runs in two innings in Jamaica were painful to watch; you can only imagine how awful they must have been to play.

He was replaced by Leon Johnson, who had played four Tests before this one and almost immediately he looked like an upgrade from Chandrika, even when he was dropped on four by KL Rahul off the bowling of Mohammad Shami. It was a sharp chase diving to his left, but one that Rahul should have taken.

That new opening partnership ended on 59, when Johnson was run out for 23. This was the first fifty run opening partnership for the West Indies since December 2014, in some 14 Tests. While Johnson looked okay, Kraigg Brathwaite looked extremely solid as he made his way to 53 from 143 balls.

The Indian bowlers didn’t find the same steepling bounce that so troubled the Indian top order, but they were industrious enough. The evidence from day two’s play is that this pitch has lost some of the life that was in it on day one, but it certainly isn’t lifeless. What was in evidence was some turn for Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, although it was of the slow and low kind rather than the more dangerous quick and bouncy sort.

There were some hairy moments for Brathwaite and Darren Bravo as Ashwin and Jadeja probed away with men in around the bat, but they survived and will return on day three hoping to bat well enough to get close to India’s first innings score and possibly even beyond it.

There issue will be that while this Indian team is capable of scoring quickly if they put their minds to it, the West Indies team will have to take a survival first approach. That will mean getting past India will take some time.

But that is unlikely. As well as things have gone for the home team in St Lucia on day two, India still have a decent total on the board thanks to that brilliant stand between Ashwin and Saha, and they have the bowlers that once are on a roll, can scythe their way through this West Indies team with alacrity.

India are the favourites to win this match and the series, but if the West Indies battle throughout this game – as they did on day two – Kohli and company will have to work hard to do so.