Cummins grabs place in record books with 95-minute duck

West Indies tailender Miguel Cummins booked an unwanted place in cricket’s record books yesterday when he faced 45 deliveries and spent 95 minutes at the crease without scoring a run before he was dismissed on the third day of the first Test against India. It was the second-longest innings in Test cricket for someone being dismissed without scoring.

That dubious record is still held by New Zealander Geoff Allott, who survived for 101 minutes before falling for naught against South Africa in Auckland in 1999. India’s bowlers spent most of the morning session at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium laboring to claim the final two wickets of the home side’s first innings as West Indies captain Jason Holder found sturdy support from Cummins in putting on 41 for the ninth wicket before they were eventually dismissed for 222.

Having slipped from 174 for five to 179 for eight late on day two courtesy of persistent Ishant Sharma, India would have been expecting to finish the job swiftly at the start of play. However, they did not count on the defiance of Cummins, who hung around with Holder for an hour-and-a-half without getting off the mark.