India Vs West Indies : First test Day 2 report

With the proceedings of the day 1 of the India v/s West Indies hanging in fine balance with the visitors having scored 256 for 5, Chanderpaul looking good for quite a few runs more, the test match looked intriguing for the supporters of both the sides.

India however started the first session by stamping a thumping authority over their West Indian counterparts and wrapped up their innings for 304. That’s a mere 48 run addition to the overnight score. Most of the damage was done by the left armer Pragyan Ojha who scalped 6 wickets for 72 runs. Ashwin provided able support with 3 wickets and Ishant Sharma picking up the all important wicket of Chanderpaul.

India began their reply very strongly, with Gautam Gambhir hitting 3 boundaries in the first over. The runs came smoothly and in heaps of boundaries in the first session with India scoring 39 runs without any loss in the 5 overs. However, Fidel Edwards could have got Virender Sehwag early when a sharp delivery took away the Delhi swashbuckler’s off stump only to realize that he had overstepped while bowling. Thus, the first session belonged to India with clean bowling performance and a smooth start with their batting.

Second session started and the things continued from where they were left off in the first session. Gambhir and Sehwag picking up easy singles and finding boundaries with ease on their home ground and they reached 85 runs in mere 12 overs. The 13th over was supposed to be the turning over in the match. On the third bowl of this over, bowled by Sammy, Virender Sehwag stuck a clean straight drive which ricochets onto the stumps after taking Sammy’s fingers and found Gautam Gambhir short fo his crease. Wes Indies struck early in the second session despite India’s healthy run rate.

Virender Sehwag, not someone to slow down under any circumstances, carried on with his smooth knock and reached his second fifty on Ferozshah Kotla ground off just 39 bowls. He was looking to cut loose to the leg spinner Bishoo when he lost his balance and a smart work from keeper Carlton Baugh stumped the stunned sehwag on 55. India were reduced to 100/2.

Then in walked the God himself, Sachin Tendulkar and along with him accompanied the hope for his 100th International Century, only to be disappointed 13 runs later, when Edwards trapped him in plumb in front of wickets for 7 runs. VVS Laxman followed next and followed quickly back to the pavillion with his personal contribution of 1. Thus, India were found losing their way after a rolicking start provided by the Delhi duo.

In came the comeback man, Yuvraj Singh, who showed some resistance in the form of some quick runs to provide some momentum to the Indian Innings and toks them safely to 150 run mark when the umpires called for tea.

The last session, of which many of the fans had thought that a Yuvraj Singh special was waiting for them were left disappointed as he got out just after the resumption of the game after tea. The captain cool came out, who did not get out in the ODI series against England, but Test match proved to be a different ball game altogether, as he could not open his account and joined Yuvraj Singh as quickly as he came. Ravichandran Ashin, the one of the two debutants, followed his captain’s footsteps by scoring a duck himself.

Rahul Dravid, the wall, was left standing alone on the other side when Ishant Sharma came and gave him some support to defy West Indies’ bowlers who were looking to finish off Indian innings in a jiffy. Dravid completed yet another half century in the process but Ishant Sharma was soon out when the score was 203 on the board. Dravid couldn’t hold on for more and eventually got out on 54. Soon the Indian innings folded at 209 conceding a healthy lead of 95 to the opposition, which could be deciding at the end of the match.

All the bowlers did a good job for Windies with pick of the bowlers being captain Darren Sammy scalping 3 wickets along with the run out of Gambhir that started the downslide of the Indian batting. While Rampaul and Bishoo took 2 wickets apiece, Edwards and part timer Samuels picked up a wicket each. In the due course, Edwards completed his 150 test wicket, Sachin Tendulkar being his 150th scalp.

Although, West Indies didn’t start strong in their second innings and lost their openers quickly and despite being 21/2 at the stumps, they are sitting pretty with a lead of 116 runs under their kitty.

The pitch is deteriorating for sure. This can be concluded by the fact that as many as 17 wickets fell on the day. The dual bounce of the pitch will make the batting all the more tough, if its not already as 5 of the WI first innings wickets were out LBWs.

By looking at how the things went today, there is no doubt that the day belonged to West Indies despite having a sorry start. They are on the driving seat and should be able to dictate terms to the opposition. As for India, they lost out on an opportunity and it would take some really good cricketing skill to make a comeback in the game.