140-kg-weighing Rahkeem Cornwall puts West Indies on cusp of victory

West Indies's Rahkeem Cornwall celebrates an Afghanistan wicket on Day Two yesterday. Pic /AFP

Lucknow: There was a time when the West Indies pace attack used to spread terror in the rival camp. Those days are now fading memories. At the Ekana Stadium on Thursday, it was a heavyweight off-spinner who was virtually unplayable in the one-off Test match against Afghanistan.

Rahkeem Cornwall is all of 140 kgs who bowls his off-spin with barely five steps. Yet, he proved menacing for the rival batsmen, as after picking up seven wickets in the first innings, he grabbed another three on the second day to put the West Indies on the cusp of a victory.

After bundling out Afghanistan for 187 on the opening day, the West Indies, thanks to a maiden Test century by Shamarh Brooks, managed a 90-run lead, a handy one in a low-scoring game. Thereafter the Afghan batsmen had very little clue of Cornwall's innocuous looking deliveries. The batsmen were just rooted to their crease and thrust their bat or pad more in hope than confidence. That led to the top-order batsmen perishing in a jiffy. If at all the match has gone into the third day, it is because of a defiant half-century by opener Javed Ahmadi, who was himself lucky to get a reprieve only because of no-ball by Cornwall.

At the other end, the other off-spinner, Roston Chase picked up three wickets during closing stages, as Afghanistan ended the day at 109-7, just 19 runs ahead going into the third day. The West Indies will hope to wrap up things well before the lunch break to end their month-long tour of Lucknow where they played three ODIs, three T20s and the lone Test.

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