Ravichandran Ashwin continued to bamboozle the West Indies batsmen with another five-wicket haul while KL Rahul remained not out on 75 as India took firm control on the first day of the second Test here on Saturday.
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Ashwin grabbed five for 52 in 16 overs en route his 18th five-wicket haul in the longer format as West Indies were all-out for 196 in 52.3 overs. The off-spinner took centrestage after initial breakthroughs from Ishant Sharma (two for 53 in 10 overs) and Mohammed Shami (two for 23) as rival skipper Jason Holder had decided to make first use of a lively pitch.
The visitors then further consolidated their position by reaching 126 for one as they were 70 runs short of the West Indies first innings score at the end of first day.
Opener Rahul, coming in place of an injured Murali Vijay, made full use of the opportunity as he not only looked compact, but also scored runs at a fair clip. Rahul's innings had 10 boundaries from 114 balls as he added 87 runs for the first wicket with a subdued Shikhar Dhawan (27, 52 balls, 5x4). Cheteshwar Pujara was batting on 18 at stumps.
Lone Warrior
Earlier,it was Jermaine Blackwood, who showed some counter-attacking instincts with a run-a-ball 62 that had seven fours and four sixes. Along with Marlon Samuels (37 from 88 balls), Blackwood added 81 runs for the fourth wicket after the Caribbeans were reeling at seven for three with Ishant and Shami polishing off the top-order.
However, Ashwin held sway in the second session where the West Indies lost six wickets for 108 runs to get all-out for a score of less than 200 runs. Ashwin now has 188 victims in 34 matches. He also has the disticntion of four five-wicket hauls in successive matches . He is only the third Indian spinner to do so after Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Anil Kumble .
The slide in the post-tea session began when Samuels starting to attack, was fooled by Ashwin's flight lobbing a simple catch to KL Rahul short leg. Six overs later, Shane Dowrich (5) edged one behind from the toe-end of his bat, the batsman in half mind whether to leave or play at the ball.
At the other end, Shami got rid of Chase, and he should have had Devendra Bishoo's scalp too. But the batsman was twice given not out off successive deliveries in the 39th over, even though he seemed to have edged behind off both. He added 10 runs to his individual score before Ashwin trapped him into playing a sweep shot that leapt up in the air and was safely pouched by Shikhar Dhawan at short fine leg in the 44th over.
The off-spinner celebrated his second successive five-wicket haul in the series two overs later then, as Jason Holder (13) was out caught bat-pad at forward short leg.
At the stroke of tea then, Amit Mishra (one for 38) wrapped up the West Indies' innings, but not before Miguel Cummins (24 not out) and Shannon Gabriel (15) threw their bats around to add 38 runs for the last wicket.
West Indies won the toss on a damp pitch and elected to bat. Holder made one change to its line-up, bringing in debutant Miguel Cummins in place of Carlos Brathwaite, while India was forced to make a change as well.
Pacers provide perfect start
Ishant and Shami then started proceedings for India, and the two bowlers were right on the money from the word go. The former in particular was impressive with his line and length, a marked improvement from the Antigua Test, as he pitched the ball further up and got it to move about. He also used the bounce on offer, and the rewards came quickly. Kraigg Brathwaite was unable to fend off a short delivery in the third over, lobbing an easy catch to Pujara at forward short leg.
Off the very next ball, Darren Bravo was forced to fend an incoming delivery and skipper Virat Kohli completed a brilliant diving catch at second slip.
Three overs later, Shami got Rajendra Chandrika to drive, only to find Rahul at gully as West Indies was struggling within the first 30 minutes of play.
Blackwood then joined Samuels in the middle, and suddenly there was a momentum shift as the former brought out his attacking shots. It was in the 11th over that things stepped into high gear, as he smacked Ishant for 14 runs, the last boundary a streaky four that Mishra missed at backward point.
Spin was introduced in the 12th over as Ashwin came on, but Blackwood went after him as well, smacking 10 runs off his second over. Samuels continuously egged him on at the other end. He played some attacking shots as well, including a cut six off Umesh Yadav, though he was tight enough in his defence too.
It seemed as there was a continuous barrage of sixes, five of them coming in this first session of play, four from Blackwood alone as West Indies raced past the 50-mark in the 16th over despite their poor start. Their 50-partnership had come off just 75 balls, and in doing so Blackwood reached his seventhTest fifty off only 47 balls.
India didn't seem to have any answers to this assault, and both spinners had been introduced within 17 overs, with Mishra coming on to bowl as well. There were some interesting shouts against Blackwood, who lived dangerously. And just when it seemed that West Indies had managed to sneak into the lunch break without any further loss, Ashwin trapped Blackwood leg-before wicket to bring an end to his hectic stay at the crease.
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