West Indies’ Kavem Hodge scores maiden Test century against England

West Indies: Kavem Hodge and Alick Athanaze made a strong start for West Indies on the second day of the second Test match against England with their century and half-century respectively.

Dominican Kavem Hodge scored his maiden Test century against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Friday, smashing 120 runs from 171 balls with 19 fours to give West Indies unbeatable momentum after lunch.

He was efficiently supported by another Dominican, Alick Athanaze, who played an inning of 82 runs with 10 fours and a six. However, his wicket was taken by England captain Ben Stokes, thus missing his maiden Test century.

The partnership between the two players took the score to 212 for the loss of three wickets and both played an innings of 175 runs. Further, Hodeg was supported by Jason Holder as they put on a partnership of 46 runs for the former’s fifth wicket, which was taken by Chris Woakes.

The opening of West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Mike Louis gave a positive start to the team as England finished the first day of the Test match with 416 runs. With the partnership of 53 runs, the opening wickets somehow put Windies on the back foot but Hodge came up with a great show.

Finally, the partnership of Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva played an aggressive knock and added 46 runs. Furthermore, West Indies ended the second day of the Test match with 351 runs for the loss of five wickets.

Interestingly, West Indies scored 351 runs for five wickets in 84 overs and trailed England by 416 runs in 88.3 overs, with all wickets having fallen.

Kavem Hodge and Alick Athanaze have been praised by their hometown as Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit shared a congratulatory message on social media.

He added,” Dominica is immensely proud of Kavem Hodge’s remarkable achievement in scoring his maiden Test century during the 2nd Test match against England. His performance is a phenomenal example of perseverance and dedication.”

On behalf of the Government and people of Dominica, he conveyed our heartfelt congratulations.

About Alick Athanaze, he also hailed him for scoring half-century scores in the 2nd test match against England.

Kavem Hodge also expressed his joy and called it a special moment as it put the team in a good position. He said: “It’s always satisfying when you have to work hard for it, it was tough, we didn’t give away many wickets so it was so good.”

Athanaze added: “I tried my best to take charge when we were there because I want everyone to be nice and calm, I want him to be relaxed and do a good job.”

Notably, the second Test match will run until 22 July 2024, as it began on 18 July 2024. The first Test match of the series was won by England and took place at Lord’s.

The third and final match will be held from July 26 to 30 at Edgbaston. West Indies visited England for the Test series tour and also met King Charles at Buckingham Palace. Now the team will play the match again for the third day today.