Second century was easier – Blackwood
Published:Monday | December 7, 2020 | 12:13 AMLennox Aldred/Gleaner Writer
Jamaican middle-order batsman Jermaine Blackwood says he felt less pressure getting to his second career Test hundred than on previous attempts to do so.
Blackwood followed up his first innings 23 with a well-played 104 in the second innings against hosts New Zealand, batting for close to four hours while sharing a 155-run seventh-wicket partnership with Alzarri Joseph, who made a career-best 86.
It was a bittersweet outing for Blackwood and Joseph, as their batting effort could not prevent the West Indies from going down by an innings and 134 runs in the first Test in Hamilton.
For Blackwood, his hard work in the nets leading up to the Test has borne fruit, and he was pleased that he was able to get to three figures against a resolute New Zealand attack.
“When I was batting in the 90s, I was more confident and I told myself I can get the job done,” he said. “To be able to score a hundred for me and the team is a good feeling.”
Deliveries
Blackwood said that the bombardment of short deliveries in training helped him to counter the aggressive Kiwi seamers.
“I have worked hard and I trust my preparations as well,” he said. “I want to thank all the coaching staff for feeding me a lot of short balls and good-length deliveries because as you can see out in the middle, I was more comfortable with the short stuff and it is a good sign going forward.”
The right-hander, who was put down at slips on 90 runs, said he almost gave it away when the wickets started tumbling around him; however, he and Joseph focused for the partnership.
“When Alzarri came to bat, I played two rash strokes and I was like, ‘No!’,” Blackwood said. “I gave it some thought and I said to Alzarri, ‘I am going to bat with you’, and he said, ‘Dads, I am going to stay with you.’
“ I thought he played a good innings and I wanted him to cross the three-figure mark as well.”
The teams will now turn their attention to the second Test in Wellington on Thursday (Jamaica time), and Blackwood is hoping that the rest of the batters can take heart from his and Joseph’s innings.
“Going forward, I think the team can get some confidence from our confidence,” he said. “So it’s all going to come down to how the guys prepare, and I think we can get a lot of positives. Hopefully, going forward, we can see a better batting performance.”