The two West Indies openers have set a new precedent despite not being able to win against Zimbabwe in the first test interrupted by rain. This has never happened in the 145-year history of Test cricket. Skipper Craig Braithwaite and Tyaganarine Chandrapal also put on the highest runs for the first wicket.
The heyday of West Indies cricket is over. In the country of Gary Sobers, Clive Lloyd is no longer regarded as a major power in world cricket. West Indies are no longer regarded as a first-rate team in Tests, despite producing occasional hits in white-ball cricket. However, those two West Indies batsmen created a new precedent in the history of Test cricket.
Braithwaite and Chandrapal set the precedent of batting on all five days of a Test as the first pair. They got the opportunity to bat together at one time or another on the five days of the match due to the frequent stoppage of the game due to rain. No other batting pair in the history of Test cricket has had this precedent.
51 overs were played on the first day of the West Indies-Zimbabwe first Test. It was possible to play 38 overs on the second day. The Braithwaite-Chandrapal duo was unbeaten on both these days. Naturally, they batted on the third day as well as on the first two days. After the end of Zimbabwe’s first innings, Braithwaite and Chandrapal came out to bat again on the fourth day. They were also undefeated that day. As a result, they batted in pairs on the fifth day as well.
Braithwaite-Chandrapal put on 336 runs to open the first innings of the Test
The pair is the first in Test history but not the first individually. Braithwaite became the 11th and Chandrapal the 12th batsman in Test history to bat on all five days of a match. Two Indian cricketers are also in this list. Ravi Shastri in 1984 against England and Cheteshwar Pujara in 2017 against Sri Lanka set the precedent of batting on all five days of a Test.
Braithwaite-Chandrapal put on 336 runs to open the first innings of the Test. They broke the 33-year-old record held by Gordon Greenidge-Desmond Haynes. In 1990 they scored 298 runs in the opening pair against England. That was West Indies’ highest opening pair in Test cricket so far. In other words, this is the first 300-run wicket of West Indies in the opening pair in Tests.
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