Brathwaite, Blackwood toil, but Windies collapse

Batsmen pass 50-run mark as hosts struggle in warm-up against Victoria XI

GEELONG: Opener Kraigg Brathwaite carried on his Test form but the West Indies’ woes were exposed again in another batting collapse in their tour game against a Victoria XI on Saturday.

The Caribbean tourists, who were smashed by an innings and 212 runs in last week’s first Hobart Test, were looking to rediscover some confidence ahead of the second Test, starting on Boxing Day.

But after reaching 226-3, the Windies collapsed, losing 5-31 on the opening day of their two-game warm-up in oppressive heat. Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood were the only batsmen to pass 50 as the West Indies reached 303-8 at stumps on day one. Denesh Ramdin finished 38 not out.



Both teams toiled as the temperature reached over 44 Celsius, making it the Victorian provincial city’s hottest day in December on record.

Blackwood described it as the most stifling playing conditions he has endured in a match. “I was so tired after running some threes,” he told reporters. “I was losing concentration. I had to put that behind me and just focus on each ball.”



Brathwaite, who scored 94 in his side’s miserable second innings of 148 in the first Test, picked up where he left off in Bellerive. The 23-year-old retired on 78 at tea, having faced 175 balls in a valuable hit-out.

Blackwood scored 69 before he was trapped lbw by leg-spinner Jeremy Hart, snared four wickets for 93 and sliced through the middle order.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2015.

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