Ravichandran Ashwin, who was having a quiet match with the ball until day 3, ran through the West Indies order to give India a win over the hosts in the first Test of the four-match series. Having had to wait for 24.5 overs for his first victim of the match, Ashwin made up for the lost time by picking up his first five-wicket haul outside Asia. Amongst the West Indian batsmen, only Marlon Samuels showed any semblance of a resistance, with his first fifty in 11 innings.
The hosts started the day on 21-1, having lost their first-innings’ top scorer Kraigg Brathwaite to Ishant Sharma on the evening of day 3. Staring at a 302 run deficit, the overnight pair of Rajendra Chandrika and Darren Bravo couldn’t last long, as the latter perished to a good, low catch by Ajinkya Rahane off Umesh Yadav. Chandrika managed to forge a mini-partnership with Marlon Samuels, before becoming Ashwin’s first victim of the match. Ashwin snared two more, ending with figures of 7-83 in the second innings.
Marlon Samuels, and later Carlos Brathwaite tried their best to extend the game to the last day, but a huge trail, coupled with a failed batting display from the rest of the batting order, ended the match in the final session of the fourth day. Mishra chipped in with a wicket as well, bowling in tandem with Ashwin to keep the batsmen tied up. The pair of Brathwaite and Bishoo frustrated the bowlers with a 95-run stand that extended the second session, but the last two wickets were snapped up early in the third session, giving India their biggest win outside the subcontinent.
Jason Holder, captain of the West Indies:
“We didn’t bowl well. India did well to put up a good first innings total. In Brathwaite and Dowrich, we had a few good performances but could not get partnerships. Shannon Gabriel bowled well, Bishoo did decently too, but we need to bowl well for longer. We'll see the conditions in Jamaica and decide our combination.”
Virat Kohli was a happy man:
“The West Indies bowlers bowled well initially, and it was difficult to score. Shikhar Dhawan was playing well, and wanted to be positive. If you want to win, you have to be positive and give your bowlers a chance to bowl out the opposition twice. We were playing five batsmen and wanted to deepen the line-up, so Ashwin was capable enough to bat a 6. Shami and Umesh were outstanding. Shami is the perfect Test bowler. We want to win every game we play, I have confidence in our abilities. We just need to continue with the same momentum.”
Ravichandran Ashwin, the man-of-the-match, said:
“I wasn’t getting my rhythm right in the first innings. Kohli gave me a long spell after lunch. I was working on my rhythm with Anil Bhai in the morning as well. It is all about the rhythm, once you get it right, the action flows and everything works. I wasn’t getting a long spell, but today was different.”
Here are few reactions by the others:
Virender Sehwag continued his form on Twitter:
Harsha Bhogle:
The eloquent speaker was lost for words after the Windies batting display:
Anjum Chopra:
VVS Laxman congratulated the team:
He also heaped praise on Kohli:
Sanjay Manjrekar on Rahane's fielding:
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