Lunch Afghanistan 90 for 3 (Ahmadi 39, Rahmat 4*, Cornwall 2-29) v West Indies

On a hazy morning in Lucknow, Afghanistan surrendered the advantage after being in control for most of the first session on the opening day of the inaugural Test at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.

After being put in, Afghanistan were 84 for 1 and minutes away from lunch but West Indies spinners Rahkeem Cornwall and Jomel Warrican dealt two quick blows to reduce them to 90 for 3.

At the toss, Jason Holder cited early moisture in the surface as the reason behind bowling first but it soon became evident that he had erred in his choice. While a couple of deliveries did seam and bounce – especially for Holder – there was hardly any venom in them to trouble the Afghanistan openers.

Having scored 21 and 87 on his Test debut against Bangladesh, Ibrahim Zadran once again showed the temperament of a proper Test opener. He was decisive in his footwork, whether defending on the front foot or back, or even while leaving balls outside off. And when the West Indies seamers pitched the ball up in search of movement, he drove them through the covers.

Playing with just two seamers, Holder brought on Cornwall as early as in the ninth over. Cornwall didn’t disappoint and found spin straightaway with the red Kookaburra. In his second over, he got Javed Ahmadi to inside edge one but the ball hit the pad on its way and went past wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich.

Cornwall wasn’t denied for long though. Zadran tried to sweep hard at one of those sharp offbreaks and was caught at leg slip by Holder diving one-handed to his left. The batsman didn’t look happy with the decision and it wasn’t conclusive from replays either if there was any bat or glove involved.

Ahmadi and Ihsanullah took on Warrican, hitting mostly down the ground and towards midwicket. The two added 56 for the second wicket that included Ahmadi lofting Cornwall for a six and four off successive deliveries. In between, Ahmadi offered another chance off Cornwall, gloving one down the leg side but Dowrich couldn’t reach there in time.

The lofted shot that brought Ahmadi most of his runs led to his dismissal too when he ended up hitting one straight to long-off off Warrican. But it was Ihsanullah’s wicket in the last over before break that really pegged Afghanistan back. The batsman tried to defend one from Cornwall but the ball kept straight and Shai Hope made no mistake at first slip.

Earlier, Afghanistan handed debuts to middle-order batsman Nasir Jamal and left-arm spinner Amir Hamza, who last played an international game in June 2017. Given the poor visibility, there is a provision to switch on the floodlights after 2.30pm.