Ravichandran Ashwin took a five-wicket haul and India’s openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma gave India a solid start as the visitors dominated the first day of the first Test against the West Indies at Dominica on Wednesday (July 12).
Ashwin’s fifer, which made him only the third Indian to get to the milestone of 700 international wickets across formats, set up the day nicely for India as they were put in to bowl after West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathiwaite won the toss.
It proved to be a poor decision from the Windies captain as their batsmen struggled not only against India’s pacers but also the spinners, who accounted for 8 of the 10 wickets that fell in the first two sessions.
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The openers, Brathiwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul, started solidly enough but once Ashwin dismissed the latter, it was very much open season for the bowling attack.
Brathiwaite departed shortly thereafter and neither of their middle order batsmen in Raymon Reifer and Jermaine Blackwood were able to play the kind of long innings the team desperately needed at the time.
In fact, the only saving grace for the West Indies batting was the showing of debutant Alick Athanaze, who looked good for his knock of 47 but ended up perishing to a careless shot off Ashwin.
The remaining resistance, if it can be termed that, came from the lower order – Jason Holder scored a gritty 18 and Rahkeem Cornwall, who was playing his first Test in 2 years, remained unbeaten on 19.
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However, it was to the surprise of no one when the Windies folded for just 150, such was the lack of solidity in their batting line-up.
In response, they did manage to trouble the Indian openers early on. Alzarri Joseph was lethal with his short balls, and troubled Jaiswal in particular early on in the game.
However, once the debutant found his feet, he was able to assert himself over a bowling line-up that, while strong, did not have the conditions to prosper.
The low, sluggish yet batter friendly conditions suited the Indian batsmen and they were untroubled by spinners Cornwall and Jomel Warrican.
The day was interrupted by a short burst of rain towards the end of the final session, but it was a passing shower and the day did finish without a hitch.
And it is India who will be the happier of the two teams.
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