Team India left for the West Indies on the 5th of July for a 6 weeks long series comprising of 4 Tests and 2 warm up matches. The first warm up match began on the 9th July at Warner Park, St Kitts. 12 players were allowed to play, with eleven allowed to take the field. Murali Vijay, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny and Shardul Thakur were the ones to be rested while Mohammad Shami was the 12th man.

Skipper Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first. The Indian openers Dhawan and Rahul were in no hurry as they took their time to settle down and kept the score ticking. They provided a steady start, piling 93 runs in 27 overs. K.L Rahul continued his good form as he took Team India past the 100-run mark and also registered a 99 balls fifty.

After both the openers went back to the pavilion as retired out, Pujara and Kohli took their time to settle down. They knocked the ball around for singles and doubles and also scored occasional boundaries. The partnership, however, came to an end in the 48th over when Kohli was out caught-behind off left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican.
Another handy partnership blossomed as Rohit Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha helped India reach the 200-run mark in the 72nd over. The MI skipper who joined the openers by scoring a half century was in a good touch. He struck 8 boundaries and 1 maximum in his innings of 54*. Mishra (18*) held the fort with Rohit as they stitched a partnership of 45 runs before stumps were called on Day 1.

Team India declared overnight on 258 for 3 and it was now time for the bowling unit to compliment the good work done by the batting unit. Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Captain Leon Johnson for 2 in the early overs of the day.

Rajendra Chandrika and Shai Hope got together to share a 122 runs second-wicket stand and stabilized the Board President’s XI innings. The spin of Mishra shook the West Indies middle-order with an impressive bowling performance. Mishra who finished with 4 wickets for 67, got Chandrika stumped for 69 and Jermaine Blackwood caught behind off the very next ball. A promising score of 129 for 1 drastically turned to 177 for 7 as the Indian bowlers made regular breakthroughs in the coming sessions. Shai Hope’s unbeaten 118 helped WI to a decent score on the board. Hope and Warrican combined a good 104-run partnership which was the highlight of the second day.

The warm-up match against West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI ended in a draw. The next warm-up match will be played in Basseterre on 14th July (7:30 p.m IST). The Indian openers were in good touch but with the middle order requiring a little more time out in the middle, the 2nd warm-up game promises to be an interesting one.

Image courtesy : BCCI