Bajans beat ball

It was like the good old days. West Indian cricket fans haven’t celebrated like this in a long time.

There were 7 000 Brits in the stands at Kensington Oval yesterday but Caribbean voices roared the loudest after a series of landmarks and records were established by hometown boys Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich.

As the two Bajans transformed West Indies’ position from recovery into seemingly invincibility on the third day of the first Test, their adoring fans jubilantly acknowledged every milestone in a monumental seventh-wicket partnership of 295.

Lifetime best

Holder’s commanding unbeaten 202 was a lifetime best and his third Test century, while Dowrich’s patient undefeated 116 was also his third Test ton. The occasion marked the first time in 59 years that two Barbadians scored hundreds in the same innings of a Kensington Test.

It was only fitting that the mothers of the two Bajan boys were sitting side by side in the Greenidge & Haynes Stand watching their sons create history and both Denise Holder and Sonia Dowrich were overcome with emotion.

“This was one of the best, greatest moments of my life. People must have heard me all across the field. I was just jumping and shouting. When he reached the 150, I was over the moon. I am a very proud, proud mother today,” said Denise, mother of the West Indies captain.

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