Rahkeem Cornwall Became 1st West Indian Off-Spinner To Pick 10 Wickets In A Test Match In Subcontinent
Mumbai: Rahkeem Cornwall a West Indies off-spinner who was in constant talks because of his fitness issue, on Thursday became the first spinner in over 2 years to pick up a 10-wicket haul in a Test match in India. After taking 7 wickets in the 1st innings during the ongoing Only Test vs West Indies in Lucknow, Cornwall added 3 more scalps to his kitty on the 2nd day to take his match haul to 10.
He has become the 1st spinner after Australia’s Steve O’Keefe in February 2017 to pick 10 wickets in a Test match in India. O’Keefe had returned match figures of 12/70 vs India in Pune to trigger the hosts’ only loss since 2013. Indian premier spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja last picked up 10-wickets in a Test during the 4-match series vs England in December 2016.
Cornwall is now also the 1st West Indian spinner to pick up 10 wickets in a Test match in the subcontinent.
Before Cornwall’s feat, Afghanistan left-arm spinner Amir Hamza claimed a slice of history for himself by picking a 5-wicket haul on his Test debut. But Hamza’s 5/74 wasn’t enough to prevent West Indies from gaining a hefty 90 run lead in the 1st innings.
On the 1st day of the Test match, Cornwall (7/75) spun a web around the Afghanistan batsmen on a turning track to shoot them out in 68.3 overs after West Indies won the toss and opted to field.
Sent into bat, Afghanistan started cautiously with the pair of Ibrahim Zadran (17) and Javed Ahmadi (39) stitching 28 runs off 12.2 overs. Cornwall gave West Indies the breakthrough by removing Zadran.
Afghanistan lost two more wickets before lunch to be placed at 90 for three in 30.4 overs.
Thereafter, it was all a Cornwall show as the off-spinner wreaked havoc by picking up the wickets of Rahmat Shah (4), Asghar Afghan (4), Nasir Jamal (2) and Afsar Zazai (32) to reduce Afghanistan to 165 for eight at tea.
West Indies skipper Jason Holder (2/22) also contributed two wickets with his medium-pace by removing his counterpart Rashid Khan (1) and Amit Hamza (34) before Cornwall put an end to the Afghanistan innings by dismissing Yamin Ahmadzai (18).
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and like us on Facebook for the latest updates and interesting stories.
