Port-of-Spain: ‘Bazball’, England’s strategy of playing attacking, result-oriented cricket in Test matches has been hogging the headlines in the last two years. Batting aggressively and scoring at 5 or 6 runs in an over, pushing for victory whatever be the situation of the game and prevailing conditions have fetched England a number of improbable wins – including one against India last year at Birmingham’s Edgbaston, when they chased down a massive fourth-innings target of 378 with ease.
On the fourth day of the second Test against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain’s Queen’s Park Oval, Team India played their own brand of ‘Bazball’ to rewrite the record books in a dazzling display of ultra-attacking batsmanship.
Having taken a first-innings lead of 183 runs, Indian batsmen blasted their way to 181/2 in just 24 overs before declaring their second innings closed.
Their scoring rate of 7.54 runs per over was the highest ever team run-rate in a Test innings lasting a minimum of 20 overs.
Skipper Rohit Sharma (54 off 44 deliveries) and Ishan Kishan (52* off 34) were the main aggressors, along with a quickfire contribution from Yashaswi Jaiswal who made 38 off 30 balls.
Team India shattered the record of Australia, who had scored 241/2 in 32 overs against Pakistan in Sydney in 2017 at a run rate of 7.53.
India yesterday also smashed the record for fastest team hundred in Test history. Openers Rohit and Yashasvi put on 98 runs in a mere 11.5 overs, and India reached the 100-run mark in 12.2 overs. That bettered the 22-year-old record held by Sri Lanka, who had posted 100 in 13.2 overs against Bangladesh in 2001, during the Asian Test Championship.
India are eyeing a 2-0 sweep of the ongoing Test series in the West Indies. Rohit & Co. need 8 wickets on the final day (Monday) while the home team requires 289 more runs to make it 1-1.
