West Indies Test skipper Kraigg Brathwaite lamented running for double, knowing the risks involved after he fell short of his deserved Test century on Day 2 of the ongoing first Test against Pakistan at Sabina Park, Jamaica on Friday (August 13).
Despite having not a lot of support from the other end other than Jason Holder, Brathwaite took the West Indies to a 34-run lead on Day 2 with his gutsy knock of 97 runs off 221 balls laced with 12 fours over Pakistan.
He stitched a 96-run partnership with Holder (58) but fell 3 runs short of his century after being run out by Hassan Ali for 97 and the skipper said he should not have run for a double.
Brathwaite told the host broadcaster at stumps on Day 2: “Obviously not feeling too good (getting run-out on 97), as soon as I returned for the second (sensed the trouble), but I committed to two and then I took off. Probably misjudged it and wouldn't do it again but from a team's point of view, I would have liked to be there at the end. Felt good to see a number of drives and I'm very proud of that, have put in a lot of work and just show that hard work pays off.”
At stumps on the second day, the West Indies scorecard read 251/8 with Joshua Da Silva (20*) and Jomel Warrican (1*) at the crease and Brathwaite hailed the tourists for their brilliant bowling.
He signed off by saying, “Pakistan bowlers bowled well and kept it really tight. The pleasing thing for me is to keep that balance (tweak in the batting technique) the whole day and there's still work to be done. Before, I would have played down the ground a lot more and the base I had was to get a few boundaries straight and use to defend off the front foot more often into the off-side, and sometimes with that base my head would lean into the off-side.”
(With ANI Inputs)
