Friday 27 / December / 2024
North Sound: A short rain shower stopped India's march in the first cricket Test against West Indies as the hosts went into an early lunch on day four at 76 for two, but Ravichandran Ashwin soon after the break picked up wickets at regular intervals to gain the upperhand.
At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Rajendra Chandrika (22) and Marlon Samuels (39) put on 55 runs for the third wicket before the morning session was cut short by rain and early lunch taken.
After the lunch break Ashwin sent back, Chandrika (31) Samuels (50), Blackwood (0) and Chase (8) in short span of time as West Indies succumbed to 106 for 6 midway through the second session.
The morning began with overnight batsmen Chandrika and Darren Bravo (10) looking to play on for time as well as score runs whenever possible.
India started the proceedings with Ishant Sharma (1-17) and Umesh Yadav (1-19), the duo looking sharp and bowling fuller deliveries, especially the former who was a marked improvement from his first innings' outing.
And this brought immediate success as Yadav sent back Bravo off the fifth ball of the day, as Ajinkya Rahane drove to his left and held a two-handed catch at gully. The duo bowled a consistent spell thereafter, testing both Chandrika and Samuels, but the batsmen showed enough resilience to stay put at the wicket.
Samuels in particular looked aggressive and used good hand-eye co-ordination to smack nine boundaries in the session. The two batsmen put on 50 off 98 balls, while the West Indies' score crossed the 50-mark in the 27th over.
About 40 minutes were left for lunch when rain intervened and cut short the session.
Murali Vijay stayed away from the field for a third consecutive day as a precaution. He had been hit on his thumb when fending off Shannon Gabriel on the first morning.
On Saturday, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav shared eight wickets to bowl the hosts out for 243 runs and enforce the follow-on thereafter.
India amassed 566 for eight declared in their first session.
SCOREBOARD
India 1st innings: 566 for 8 decl.
West Indies 1st innings: 243 all out.
West Indies 2nd innings: (midway through second session)
K. Brathwaite lbw b Sharma 2
R. Chandrika c Saha b Ashwin 31
D. Bravo c Rahane b Yadav 10
M. Samuels b Ashwin 50
J. Blackwood c Kohli b Ashwin 0
R. Chase c sub (Rahul) b Ashwin 8
S. Dowrich not out 1
J. Holder not out 0
Extras (nb-4) 4
Total (6 wickets; 46 overs) 106
To bat: C. Brathwaite, D Bishoo, ST Gabriel
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-21, 3-88, 4-92, 5-101
Bowling: I. Sharma 9-2-17-1, Mohammed Shami 10-3-26-0, U. Yadav 9-4-19-1, R. Ashwin 13-7-29-4, A. Mishra 5-0-15-0
Umpires: Aleem Dar and IJ Gould
TV umpire: G. Brathwaite
Match referee: RS Madugalle
Reserve umpire: N. Duguid
