West Indies aim to turn home conditions into ‘fortress’, says captain Roston Chase

New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS) Buoyed by success in recent performances, West Indies skipper Roston Chase said his side wants to make their home conditions in the Caribbean a ‘fortress,’ where visiting teams struggle to win, as they prepare for the second and final Test against Pakistan starting on Sunday.

West Indies hold a 1-0 lead in the two-match series following their 90-run victory in the opening Test at Tarouba last week, coming on the heels of a series win over Sri Lanka. “We’re very blessed and very happy for the results that we’ve been having at home so far. But I want to make home our fortress, where we make it very difficult for teams to come to the Caribbean and beat us.

“Because it’s our own conditions, we know them inside out, and better than the opposition. So I think we want to really make home advantage count, and we’ve been doing that well so far. So, as I said, we’re lucky to continue in the vein of form that we’ve been in, and to take victory in this second game,” Chase told reporters.

A victory in the upcoming clash at the Queen’s Park Oval will help West Indies overtake England and be at seventh spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table. “After having the year last year, we sat down with the plan and said that this is where we want to be. And as I said, we’re exactly where we want to be. We want to level up.

“We want to just come into this second Test, not take anything for granted, just go through the processes that we’ve sat down and talked about. We want to come and execute them to the best of our ability. And look to get that second victory,” added Chase.

West Indies’ confidence is further bolstered by Pakistan’s ongoing struggles in overseas conditions, with the visitors suffering eight consecutive Test defeats away from home in Australia, South Africa, Bangladesh, and now in the Caribbean. However, the Port of Spain pitch is expected to offer more assistance to spin bowlers compared to the seam-friendly conditions in Tarouba.

While left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican leads the West Indies spin bowling department, Chase is nursing an index finger injury that restricted him from undertaking his off-spin bowling duties in the first Test. There’s also left-arm spinner Joshua Bishop in the squad, but Chase expressed optimism about bowling during the upcoming match.

“It’s getting better. Hopefully, I think I’ll be ready to bowl by Sunday. I bowled two overs today. It still has a bit of pain. But I think by Sunday, I should be able to at least bowl probably four to five overs consistently,” he concluded.

–IANS

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