West Indies upbeat after record stand leads their fightback
Cricket
West Indies were 266/8 on day one of the day-night Test against Australia on Thursday.
BRISBANE (Web Desk) - Joshua Da Silva and Kavem Hodge produced a strong partnership on day one of the day-night Test against Australia at the Gabba to lift West Indies. Reduced to 64/5 on day one of the Gabba Test, West Indies showed remarkable resilience and fight to end the day at 266/8.
Led by Joshua Da Silva and Kavem Hodge's record stand of 149, West Indies put up an encouraging fight that denied Australia control on the first day of the day-night Test match.
"Nobody would have expected, for sure, from five down for 64 when I came in that we'd be 266, so that's 200-plus runs for three wickets, so we are pretty happy," Da Silva said.
"We just wanted to show that we can fight, that we can put a foot forward. At least we can show people we are here to fight, here to play cricket. It's about showing people, West Indies, we're still here and we deserve to be here."
Da Silva and Hodge lasted more than fifty overs in Brisbane, stitching together a partnership of 149, the highest for West Indies in Australia in a Test match since 2005.
It's also the highest partnership against Australia in a day-night Test match.
Da Silva, who had been troubled by the bouncer in the first Test in Adelaide, said that he expected the Aussies to go for short balls again at him.
“It was a bit challenging at times," Da Silva conceded, adding that he came prepared for the short balls with a chest guard.
"I knew after they bumped me out at Adelaide they would come at me a lot, so put on a chest pad this time and decided to duck from a few and ride a few.
"It wasn't going well so needed to change and thankfully it worked a little bit."
The West Indies wicketkeeper added that ideally the team would have wanted one of him or Hodge to make a century to end the day on a better note, but was happy with the fight they showed.
“It was a pretty crucial partnership between Hodgey and myself. We would have liked to finish the day a bit better, maybe with one of us getting a hundred, or both of us in that case, but it wasn’t meant to be today.”
