Sabina Park: Venue for 2nd Test, A Good Hunting Ground For Windies

India first played a Test match at the venue in 1953. The last time both sides met at the venue was in 2016.

After a tame surrender in the second innings of the first Test in North Sound, Antigua, hosts West Indies will look to comeback strongly against India in the second Test starting Friday, 30 August. India won the first Test by 318 runs.

The second Test will be played at the iconic Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. A victory in the second Test will not only help West Indies level the two-match series but will also be their first Test win against India in 17 years.

India first played a Test match at the venue in 1953. The last time both sides met at the venue was in a Test in 2016. Despite centuries from KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane, West Indies managed to save the Test.

A happy hunting ground for the Men from the Caribbean, Jason Holder & Co would be keen to change their fortune in the second Test.

Here’s a look at how both teams have fared in Tests at the one of the iconic cricket venues in the Caribbean:

• 51 Tests have been played by the West Indies at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, winning 24, losing 13 and drawing the remaining 14.
• Twelve Tests have been contested between West Indies and India between 1953 and 2016. West Indies have won six, lost two and drawn four.
• Kapil Dev's match figures of 8 for 118 in February 1983 are the best by an Indian bowler at this venue.
• Dilip Sardesai had posted 212 in 1971 – the only double century by an Indian batsman in Tests at this venue.

• Pankaj Roy remains the only Indian batsman to post a century and a fifty in the same Test match at Kingston – 85 & 150 in March 1953.
• In the last Test match played by India at Kingston in 2016, Lokesh Rahul had scored 158 and Ajinkya Rahane 108 not out in a total of 500 for nine wickets declared.
• In West Indies' first innings score of 196 vs India at Kingston in 2016, Ravichandran Ashwin had claimed five for 52. Roston Chase had registered an unbeaten 137 in the second innings vs India in the same Test – his career-best score.

Apart from the West Indies vs India encounters, here’s a look at the overall records registered at the Kingston venue:

• Famous as "The Black Bradman', West Indian George Headley had posted two double centuries at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica – the most by any batsman at this venue. 223 in April 1930 and 270 not out in March 1935 – both vs England. These two innings are his only double centuries in his Test career.
• Two triple hundreds have been recorded at this venue – 365 not out by Garry Sobers for the West Indies vs Pakistan in February/March 1958 and 325 by Andy Sandham for England vs West Indies in April 1930.
• Sobers had set a world record at that time, surpassing Len Hutton's 364 for England vs Australia at The Oval in 1938. Conrad Hunte had also scored 260 in the said match – his career-best in Tests. The said instance was the first when a triple hundred and a double hundred were scored in the same Test innings.
• Andy Sandham's above innings, in fact, is the first triple century in Test annals. He followed it up with a 50 in the second innings to become the first batsman to post a triple century and a fifty in the same Test match.

• Fifteen innings of 200-plus have been registered at Sabina Park, Kingston – the last being Ramnaresh Sarwan's 261 not out off 402 balls vs Bangladesh in June 2004.
• Frank Worrell's magnificent 237 in March 1953 is the only double hundred for the West Indies vs India in Tests at Kingston.
• Ramnaresh Sarwan's strike rate of 64.92 during his above innings is the highest by any batsman scoring 200-plus at this venue.
• England's Dennis Amiss had also recorded his career-best score at this venue – 262 not out off 563 balls vs West Indies in February 1974. His innings was embellished with 40 fours and a six – the most boundaries hit by a batsman in an innings at this venue.
• Five bowlers – three from England and two from the West Indies – have produced seven-wicket hauls at Sabina Park – Steve Harmison, Trevor Bailey, John Snow, Corey Collymore (twice) and Sir Wes Hall.

• Steve Harmison's figures of 7 for 12 for England vs West Indies in March 2004 are the best in a Test innings at this venue.
• Just four bowlers – all from the West Indies – have produced 10 wickets or more in a Test match at Sabina Park. Jason Holder – 11 for 103 vs Bangladesh in July 2018; Corey Collymore – 11 for 134 vs Pakistan in June 2005; Hines Johnson – 10 for 96 vs England in March 1948 and Courtney Walsh – 10 for 101 vs India in April/May 1989.
• West Indian Courtney Walsh had claimed 48 wickets at 18.68 runs apiece in eleven Tests – the most by a bowler at this venue.