The Indians ended Day 1 of the first Test match in a commanding position by posting 302 on board courtesy a scintillating century by skipper Virat Kohli.
Match Venue: Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua
Time: 7:30 pm IST
The Indians kickstarted their Caribbean tour by playing the West Indians in the first Test match at the picturesque Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. It ushered a new era in Indian Test cricket, marking recently appointed national coach Anil Kumble’s first assignment with the national team.
The Indians came into the Test match with a mindset of continuing their winning streak against the Windies at their backyard which extended back to two consecutive series wins. Meanwhile, the Windies with a relatively inexperienced and young test side looked to make a definitive impression in the longer format against a much more experienced Indian team.
Team News and Selection:
West Indies
The West Indies fielded a relatively new look side with Roston Chase making his debut. The West Indies batting line-up showcased a blend of youth and experience. The top order seemed relatively inexperienced with openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Rajendra Chandrika making an impression in their test careers. The middle order looked impressive with the talented Darren Bravo, experienced Marlon Samuels and promising youngster Jermaine Blackwood.
Meanwhile, Shane Dowrich was picked up as their wicket-keeper. The Windies certainly lacked experience in the pace bowling department with an injury to pacer Kemar Roach and the recent retirement of seasoned seamer Jerome Taylor. Inform seamer Shannon Gabriel and Jason Holder took up the pace duties with all-rounder Craig Brathwaite being the third seamer. Devendra Bishoo was picked up as their frontline spinner in the playing eleven.
Playing XI - KC Brathwaite, R Chandrika, DM Bravo, MN Samuels, J Blackwood, RL Chase, SO Dowrich (Wicket-keeper), CR Brathwaite, JO Holder (Captain), D Bishoo, ST Gabriel
India
The Indian batting order looked formidable with their settled opening pair of Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan. The middle order exhibited loads of talent and experience with the prolific run machine Virat Kohli, the dependable Cheteshwar Pujara and the talented Ajinkya Rahane. Meanwhile, Wriddhiman Saha secured his place as the gloves man. The Indians went in for three seam bowlers in Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami besides playing Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra as their lead spinners.
Playing XI- M Vijay, S Dhawan, CA Pujara, V Kohli (Captain), AM Rahane, WP Saha, R Ashwin, A Mishra, I Sharma, M Shami and UT Yadav
Live Streaming:
The match can be viewed live on TV on Ten Cricket.
West Indies vs India will be streamed live on Tensports.com
1st day’s summary
Morning Session:
Virat Kohli won the toss and surprisingly elected to bat on an Antigua wicket which promised some assistance to the pacers on the opening day. The Indians opened with their settled opening combination of Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan.
Seamer Shannon Gabriel, returning back to the Test fold, bowled in the right areas with pace and good control. Gabriel tried to unsettle the Indian openers by peppering them with some short pitch deliveries and it was Murali Vijay who departed early after edging a steep bouncer from Shannon Gabriel to Kraigg Braithwaite in the slip cordon.
The technically sound Cheteshwar Pujara walked in after Vijay’s wicket and consolidated the innings with Shikhar Dhawan who looked in free flowing touch. Pujara in his typical style took his time to grind the bowlers with his defensive textbook play.
Also read: India vs West Indies, Day 1 - Stats: Sizzling Virat Kohli stamps his authority
While Dhawan looked in boundary scoring mood, Pujara was content in running the singles and giving his more flamboyant partner the strike. Meanwhile, seamer Gabriel was provided with good support from the other end with Jason Holder and Carlos Braithwaite bowling a tight line to keep the run flow in check.
Post Lunch Session:
Just when Pujara looked well settled at the crease, he lost his wicket by playing a rash pull shot against spinner Devendra Bishoo. Skipper Virat Kohli who did not boast of a good track record against the Windies in an otherwise prolific test career joined his Delhi teammate Shikhar Dhawan at the crease.
Kohli was positive in his intent from the very start and looked for every opportunity to score. Kohli and Dhawan soon found their full range of shots and made the Windies bowlers pay for their inconsistent lines and erratic lengths. While Dhawan had a strong intent to cut, Kohli was more content with driving the ball along the ground. The duo strung a century partnership to build a strong platform for India to build a big total.
The Windies bowlers were clearly short on experience and found it difficult to hold one end up and choke the flow of runs. Against the run of play, Dhawan who looked promising to score a century was trapped leg before by spinner Bishoo for playing the sweep. Dhawan scored an impressive knock of 84.
Post Tea Session:
Dhawan’s fall saw Ajinkya Rahane joining Kohli at the wicket. Rahane scored 22 runs and added a valuable 57 runs with Kohli. As the day went along, Kohli showed glimpses of his brilliant strokeplay by notching up a well-compiled century. Rahane saw his end in a similar fashion as Cheteshwar Pujara, when he tried to pull a short leg break from spinner Bishoo which eventually became big on him.
In a surprise move showing positive intent, Ravichandran Ashwin came in ahead of wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha. Ashwin batted patiently with Kohli to add an unbeaten 66 run partnership to close the day’s play at 302 for the loss of four wickets. The Indians were also helped by a defensive game plan by the West Indians who hesitated to take the new ball.
Day 2:
What Lies in Store -
India look to be in the driver’s seat after having a posted a healthy 302 runs on board at the end of Day 1. With six wickets in hand, the Indians would look to extend their score and put up a formidable total by playing out the entire day.
The West Indies would hope to make inroads into the Indian batting by picking up early wickets in the morning session. The West Indies would surely like to see the centurion Virat Kohli back to the pavilion at the earliest and then hope to rattle out the Indian lower order.
So it is all to play for in the second day of the Test match with the Indians trying to further consolidate their dominating position and the West Indies trying to get back into the match with some early breakthroughs.
The West Indies seamers would like to make the most of the swinging conditions in the morning session. Meanwhile, spinner Devendra Bishoo, who picked up three wickets on Day 1, would try to cast a web around the Indians as the surface withers off in the later part of the day.
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