West Indies Fight Back In Second Test At Trent Bridge

Hodge's maiden century and Athanaze's 82 lead energetic revival

Kavem Hodge salutes the crowd after his maiden Test century /

In the second Test at Trent Bridge, the determined West Indies and England, who trailed 416 by 65 runs at the time, squared a fierce battle. Alick Athanaze struck an amazing 82, and Kavem Hodge's maiden test century drove the West Indies' energetic comeback. Although the West Indies started poorly and shockingly slow, they returned with a 175-run partnership between Hodge and Athanaze, who have cut the lead to 65 with five wickets still. 

"We always bat good together, play for the same franchise back home, we've had a lot of big partnerships. He's more aggressive than I am, I'm more of an accumulator, so I tend to go under the radar and go about my business quietly. Always good to spend time with him at the wicket," Hodge said in media reports.

The morning session was a story of two halves; the West Indies dominated the first hour and failed to drop a wicket owing to skipper Kraigg Brathwaite's scoring frenzy. After the drinks break, Shoaib Bashir reversed the tide by splitting the opening pair and just clipping in a wicket as Kirk McKenzie struck a reckless shot to go out. Despite the batter's best attempts to fight it away, Gus Atkinson's well-directed bouncer at the bat went in successfully, completing the simple catch, and in no time 53/0 became 84/3, severely stressing the West Indies' players. 

The second session amply demonstrated the robust mini-partnership between Hodge and Athanaze, as they managed to avoid losing any wickets. Hodge's confidence rose as he batted 8 off 43; both hitters got fifty before the tea break. Hodge continued, striking Bashir for four boundaries in two overs to pass Athanaze. Arriving uncontested, Ben Stokes broke the 175-run partnership and gave England relief when Athanaze slid the delivery to the fielder at gully.

Hodge still seemed to be in fluent touch, though, as he struck Stokes for a few boundaries to raise his maiden Test century, thereby addressing the deficit in the process. After the visitors passed the 300-run mark and caught the centurion for 120, Chris Woakes and Wood persevered until their dismissal.

Keeping the bowling side under constant strain, Joshua da Silva made a quick start to his innings, sprinting to 17 off 11 to keep England on their edge thus West Indies trailing in this match with 65 runs. "It was brutal. It's not every day you rock up and you face someone that's bowling more than 90mph every single ball. There was one point, I made a joke to him, I said: 'Hey, I have a wife and kids at home.' But I think that made the century a lot more satisfying. Test cricket is brutal, it's challenging, it's mentally draining. To experience that, facing guys like Mark Wood, it was tough but it was satisfying," added Hodge.