West Indies batter Kavem Hodge received applause from the English crowd after he registered his maiden Test century against England on Day 2 of the ongoing 2nd Test p at Trent Bridge on Friday, July 19.
Hodge walked out to bat at No.5 after West Indies were reeling at 84/3 in 24.3 overs. The 31-year-old received a lifeline after his catch was dropped by Joe Root on 16 in the 41st over of the first innings. Kavem Hodge took advantage of the dropped catch and went on to score fifty in 84 balls.
In the 66th over of the West Indies first innings, Kavem Hodge was batting on 97 and hit a four off Ben Stokes on the fourth ball of the over to complete his maiden century of his Test career. He was celebrating his maiden three-figure mark in jubilation.
The crowd at the Trent Bridge gave a standing ovation to Kavem Hodge as he notched up maiden Test century of his career. The video of the same was posted by England's Barmy Army on its X handle (formerly Twitter).
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The West Indies Cricket too posted a video on its X handle, where the players in the dressing room erupted in cheers and joy as they witness Kavem Hodge making his arrival in Test Cricket with a century.
Kavem Hodge played a brilliant innings of 120 off 171 balls and stitched 175-run partnership with Alick Athanaze for the fourth wicket to revive West Indies batting from 84/3 to 259/4. After Hodge's dismissal, Athanaze was joined by Jason Holder at the crease to carry on visitors' first innings batting.
Alick Athanaze was in good touch but his stay at the crease ended after he was dismissed for 82 at 305/5. Thereafter, Joshua Da Silva joined Holder at the crease. The duo ensured no fall of wickets towards the end of Day 2 of the 2nd Test.
At the end of Day 2, West Indies posted a total of 351/5 in 84 overs and trailing by 65 runs to England's first innings total of 416, with Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva batting on 23 and 32, respectively.
'It was brutal': Kavem Hodge on his battle with Mark Wood
Kavem Hodge opened up on his battle with England pacer Mark Wood on Day 2 of the second Test. The West Indies was at the receiving end of the Wood's fiery spell. Mark Wood bowled at a speed of 156km/h in the second over of the day.
Speaking at the press conference after close of Day 2, Hodge described Mark Wood's pace as 'brutal' and revealed a light-hearted banter with him.
"It was brutal. 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 point when I 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." Hodge said as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo
"Test cricket is brutal, it's challenging, it's mentally draining. To experience that, facing guys like Mark Wood, it was tough, but it was satisfying," he added.
