West Indies all-rounder Kavem Hodge, who was at the receiving end of England tearaway Mark Wood’s show of tremendous pace on Day 2 of the second Test,described the battle between the two as “brutal.”
The sun-soaked throng at Trent Bridge witnessed Wood scripting history in the second Test against the West Indies. He produced the quickest over bowled by an English bowler at home since the inception of data recording for the same in 2006.
Wood is famed for making the opposition batters dance to his tune with his tempo. The seasoned pacer weaponized his strongest attribute and asked questions from hitters that they didn’t have any replies for.
Hodge faced Wood’s 29 deliveries, and roughly 24 of them were bowled short or short of a fair length at a minimum of 90 mph,which became a hard examination for the Caribbean batsman.
Hodge, who felt the touch of air on his face as the ball sailed past his helmet, characterized his duel with Wood as “brutal.”
“It was awful. It’s not every day you rock up and you face someone that’s bowling more than 90 mph on every single ball.There was one moment when l made a joke to him, I said: ‘Hey, I have a wife and kids at home.’ But I think that made the century a lot more satisfying.Test cricket is harsh, it’s challenging, it’s mentally exhausting. To experience that, facing someone like Mark Wood, it was tough, but it was fulfilling,” Hodge added, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
While bowling the fastest over on English soil, Wood began his over at 93.9 mph, then delivered deliveries of 96.1 mph, 95.2 mph,92.2 mph, 96.5 mph, and 95.2 mph for the rest of his over.
Despite generating a spectacle for fans, Wood went wicketless and went off the field after he felt a discomfort with his hamstring.
Hodge, appearing in his fourth Test, withstood the intimidating challenge from Wood and went on to hammer his maiden hundred in the format.
He smashed the ball past mid-off to find the fence and hoisted both his arms in the air to celebrate a memorable knock. He punched his fist in the air with jubilation with a brilliant smile on his face.Hodge kissed the emblem on his helmet and leaped into the arms of Jason Holder mid-pitch, showing what the moment meant for him.
“It was great. I guess from 97 I blanked out… I was just trying my best to stay in the moment, and he bowled a massive, booming inswinger, and everything was just a blur. Everything just happened in the moment. I told Jason I was still pinching myself after the celebration. I hadn’t realized it yet,” Hodge told Sky Sports.
His 175-run combination with Alick Athanaze (82) provided the framework for the West Indies to duplicate their triumph in Gabba at Trent Bridge. West Indies concluded the day with a total of 351/5,trailing by 65 runs. (ANI)
