Johnson misses century again as Windies A squander good start

HUBLI, India, CMC- West Indies A squandered a good start against India A and collapsed to 268 all out on the first day of their third unofficial test match at the Hubli Cricket Ground here yesterday.

Leon Johnson
Leon Johnson

Leon Johnson for the second time missed out on a century to lead a top order effort that  placed West Indies A in a comfortable position of 240 for five before the last five wickets  fell for the addition of only 28 runs.

Johnson, who fell nine runs short of a century in the last match and who was dropped when he was on 51, hit 15 fours to reach 81 before he was trapped lbw to Abhishek Nayer who finished with four wickets for 61 runs.

He shared in a 70 run partnership with Narsingh Deonarine who was caught after scoring 35 including six fours.

Deonarine’s demise ended an enterprising stand as he chased after three successive deliveries from Nayar and managed to edge the third.

Johnson had also teamed up with Assad Fudadin to help stabilize the West Indies innings including a phase during which at least one boundary was hit in six successive overs.

Fudadin fell just three runs short of an even half century after going for a back-foot drive off Dhawal Kulkarni and edging to second slip.

The post tea interval saw a steady procession of batsmen returning to the dressing room as the last seven wickets fell.

At the close India  A were 10 without loss.