Roston Chase fought hard — playing a knock of 53 — but that wasn’t enough for the West Indies to save a follow-on. The visiting side, resuming the day on 94-6, was bundled out for 181 in the first innings, on the third day of the first Test at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
In the second innings, the visiting side reached 33-1 at lunch, with Kieran Powell (22) and Shai Hope (0) at the crease. Following on, openers Powell and stand-in captain, Kraigg Brathwaite, built a 32-run partnership, but Ravichandran Ashwin got the breakthrough, removing Brathwaite for 10. He was caught by Prithvi Shaw at short-leg, in the penultimate over before the lunch.
While the openers were out on a mission to steady the ship, it will be a mountain to climb for the visiting side as it was trailing by 435 runs.
LIVE: IND vs WI — 1st Test, Day 3
In the first session of the day, Chase stitched a 73-run partnership with Keemo Paul — who fell for 47 — to steady the ship, but with Ravichandran Ashwin scalping four wickets for 37, the lower-order collapsed like a house of cards.
Even as Chase tried taking things in his stride, Ashwin — regaining his old flair — made it a point to trouble the West Indies lower-order. Unable to read him, tail-enders Sherman Lewis and Shanon Gabriel looked clueless in the middle and ended up throwing away their wickets to the spin ace.
With inexperience hurting this side, a defeat looms large on West Indies, but then, it needs to be seen can the team stick to the ground till the fourth day. After all, playing an in-form Ashwin on home conditions will certainly not be an easy task, and that’s where the presence of mind would play a role. Test cricket, unlike the T20s, is a real test of character!
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