Lokesh Rahul completed a patient hundred as India closed in on the West Indies’ first innings total of 196, by reaching 185 for one at lunch on the second day of the second Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica yesterday.
Making the most of his recall to the team due to a thumb injury sustained by Murali Vijay ahead of the match, Raul reached his third Test century with a six over long-on, but was generally watchful throughout the morning in getting to 107 in partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara (37 not out).
Trailing in the four-match series following an innings defeat in the first Test in Antigua a week earlier, the West Indies were far more disciplined with the ball over the first two hours of play than on the first evening.
Only 59 runs were added from the overnight position, extending the second-wicket partnership between Rahul and Pujara to 98, but none off the bowlers were able to make the much-needed breakthrough.
Of further concern to the home side would have been the sight of debutant fast-medium bowler Miguel Cummins leaving the field in some physical discomfort just before the interval.
He beat the bat on more than one occasion during his spell and would have been expected to shoulder a lot of the bowling heading into the afternoon session, especially with the West Indies continuing to use their premier strike bowler, Shannon Gabriel, sparingly due to his very recent history of debilitating injuries.
Rahul’s celebratory six off part-time off-spinner Roston Chase was a rare moment of all-out aggression by the Indian second-wicket pair as they exercised admirable discipline in seeking to ensure that the advantage achieved on the first day of the match was consolidated at the start of day two.
In just his sixth Test match, Rahul’s innings has already occupied over four-and-a-half hours during which he has faced 199 deliveries, stroking 12 fours to accompany the big hit that took him past the cherished landmark.
At the other end, Pujara was even more watchful, adding only 19 runs to his overnight score without ever looking in any real difficulty on a pitch that still offered its challenges to the batsmen.
Cummins was able to extract awkward bounce to him on one occasion but in his trademark phlegmatic manner he continued watchfully through the period of play.

BRIEF SCORES (at lunch): West Indies 196 all out (J Blackwood 62; R Ashwin 5-52) lead India 185 for 1 (KL Rahul not out 107; R Chase 1-52) by 11 runs