Taunton, July 17: Charl Willoughby ran through the Indian batting order with a five-wicket haul as the visitors were left struggling at 138 for eight at the end of Day 2 in the warm-up game against Somerset.
Several Indian batsmen failed to convert promising starts as Somerset's premier paceman Charl Willoughby emerged hero for his side with five scalps for 50 runs in 16 overs. The South African left-armer ran through the Indian top-order, deftly employing seam-movement and bounce.
On a day truncated by rain, Somerset batted on from their overnight 329 for two for a further 21 overs before declaring on 425 for three at 4 pm. Somerset extended their first innings from an overnight 329 for two, adding 96 as Arul Suppiah completed a career-best 156 and 20-year-old Chris Jones hit nine fours in an unbeaten 51.
Somerset’s veteran left-arm seamer Charl Willoughby reduced India to 76 for four, removing Abhinav Mukund, Gautam Ghambir, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh.
The Indian reply got off to a speedy start with Gautam Gambhir and Abhinav Mukund making 32 runs in 4.5 overs. But then Willoughby struck, trapping Gambhir in front for 21 and sending back Mukund for 18 and Rahul Dravid for 17. The same bowler dismissed Yuvraj Singh for a duck as India slid to 76 for four in 81.3 overs.
India's plight only worsened when seamer Craig Meschede had Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar caught behind for 26 and imminent Test debutant Wriddhiman Saha was dismissed in similar fashion by Peter Trego for no score. India were in shambles at 90 for six at that juncture. Suresh Raina and Zaheer Khan ensured India's score moved past 100, but their 33-run stand was truncated by Alfonso Thomas.
Willoughby then returned to remove Amit Mishra for 6, before the close of play.
