Ravichandran Ashwin feasted on West Indies wickets on a generous turning pitch to propel India to victory by an innings and 141 runs inside three days of the first Test on Friday.
Ashwin took seven for 71 in the second innings, his best figures overseas, and 12 for 131 in the match.
West Indies was all out for 130 in less than 51 overs after scoring 150 in the first innings.
Debutant opener Yashasvi Jaiswal outscored West Indies on his own with 171. He and captain Rohit Sharma drained the home side with their opening stand of 229. Then Jaiswal rubbed it in by leading a partnership of 110 with Virat Kohli.
FULL SCORECARD, IND v WI 1st TEST
India declared its first innings at 421 for five about an hour after Lunch, with a lead of 271.
Offering spin-friendly Windsor Park to two of the world’s best spinners came to bite the West Indies hard.
INDIA VS WEST INDIES FIRST TEST DAY 3 HIGHLIGHTS.”
Ashwin, the No. 1 Test bowler with a point to prove after being omitted from the World Test Championship (WTC) final, and Ravindra Jadeja, the No. 1 Test all-rounder, padded already impressive statistics with 17 of the 20 West Indies wickets.
Beside five for 60 in the first innings, Ashwin’s dozen wickets in the match gave him an eighth 10-wicket haul in Tests, tying him with Anil Kumble’s record. They are tied for fifth on the all-time list.
Jadeja took two for 38 on Friday for a match haul of five wickets.
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In West Indies’ second innings, the top order’s priority was merely surviving but both openers were gone by Tea, both on 7.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul was leg-before to Jadeja, and cost West Indies a review, and captain Kraigg Brathwaite was caught at first slip trying to defend Ashwin.
Jermaine Blackwood and Raymon Reifer were out within five balls of each other, also trying to defend the spin; Blackwood was trapped by Ashwin and Reifer was lbw to Jadeja.
When Joshua Da Silva was plumb in front off pacer Mohammed Siraj, West Indies was 58 for five in the 30th over.
Alick Athanaze, on debut, top-scored in both innings with 47 and 28.
“You could see that he belongs,” Brathwaite said.
Athanaze was dropped on 1 by Jaiswal at short-leg but Jaiswal snaffled up the next chance.
Ashwin took the last five wickets, the 23rd time he’s taken the match-winning wicket, eclipsing Shane Warne’s 22 occasions.
West Indies has gone the distance only twice in its last 10 Tests.
Meanwhile, India extended its unbeaten run in the Caribbean to 14 Tests, with a seventh win since 2006. The second Test in Port of Spain, the 100th between the teams, starts on Thursday.
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The highest score by an India man on debut was 187 by Shikhar Dhawan in 2013, and Jaiswal looked set to beat it on Friday morning when he resumed on 143.
The opener hit slow left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican back over his head for his first Test six and was dismissed for 171 when he nicked pacer Alzarri Joseph behind.
Jaiswal didn’t look happy, though he had the highest score by an India debutant outside India, and faced more balls than any of India’s previous debutant centurions.
His mammoth innings, spanning three days and nearly eight-and-a-half hours, lasted 387 balls and included 16 boundaries.
Ajinkya Rahane came in and didn’t last, patting back a bouncer from Kemar Roach when he was on just 3.
Kohli racked up his 57th fifty and third slowest, and he and Jadeja took India to Lunch on 400 for four with a lead of 250.
Kohli looked good for his 29th Test hundred and only his second in the Caribbean while riding his luck.
He gave a half-chance at leg-slip and was dropped twice on Friday on 40 and 72. Kohli’s luck ran out when off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall returned to bowl for the first time in more than 24 hours. He left the field on Thursday morning due to an apparent chest infection but started Friday on the field.
In Cornwall’s second over of the day, Kohli turned him down the leg side and steered the ball straight to slip fielder Athanaze. Kohli’s hard-fought 76 from 182 balls included five boundaries.
India waited six more overs to declare at 421 for five, after Ishan Kishan scored his first run on his Test debut about an hour after Lunch. Jadeja was 37 not out.
The wickets were shared around and Roach was unlucky to have only one. Warrican did most of the heavy lifting, bowling 45 overs for his one for 106. Cornwall’s absence allowed Athanaze to take his maiden wicket.
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