India recovered to 234 for five at stumps on day one of the third Test against the West Indies, courtesy an unbeaten 108-run stand between Wriddhiman Saha and Ravichandran Ashwin here yesterday
Gros Islet: India recovered to 234 for five at stumps on day one of the third Test against the West Indies, courtesy an unbeaten 108-run stand between Wriddhiman Saha and Ravichandran Ashwin here yesterday.
Ravichandran Ashwin (L) and Wriddhiman Saha (R) of India partnership during day 1 of the 3rd Test between West Indies and India August 9, 2016 at Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium Gros Islet, St. Lucia. Pic/AFP
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India, put in to bat, found themselves at a precarious 126/5 before Ashwin (75*) and Wriddhiman Saha (46*) grinded it out to steady the innings and batted out the entire final session. Early on, opener Rahul's crisp 50 off 65 balls came after the visitors lost Shikhar Dhawan and captain Virat Kohli cheaply.
The West Indies, with their morale boosted after securing a dramatic draw in second Test, bowled with purpose to put the opposition under pressure. Debutan pacer Alzarri Joseph was impressive and took the prized wicket of Kohli.
Post-tea, Ashwin and Saha looked to get things going again, and build a partnership that could dig India out of a huge hole. And while they succeeded in doing so, there were quite a few hiccups along the way. In the 55th over, three overs after play resumed, Jason Holder (0-27) swung a delivery in sharply and Saha shouldered arms, only for the ball to hit the flap of his pad. Umpire Nigel Llong deemed it not out, with the batsman on 1 at that time.
In the very next over, on 26, Ashwin was almost caught at forward short leg, the ball just dropping short, with Roston Chase (2-38) the unlucky bowler. Chances kept coming for the West Indies, and the biggest miss was in the 63rd over, when Ashwin was caught at point off Shannon Gabriel (1-68), but got a reprieve as the bowler had stepped on the side-crease and it was deemed a no ball. He was on 35 then.
India¿s 150-mark came up in the 65th over, but the scoring rate was down to a trickle. The two batsmen didn't mind that and continued to grind out their innings, with the 50-partnership coming off 155 balls. Saha got away twice thereafter, first a run-out chance in the 79th over when he was halfway down the pitch but the fielder couldn't get a
direct throw in. Then, in the 82nd over as the new ball was taken, Joseph (2-38) induced an edge only for the ball to die down inches away from keeper Shane Dowrich.
Ashwin then celebrated his seventh Test half-century off 157 balls, and the 200-mark came up in the 84th over. The duo struck some exquisite boundaries towards the end of day's play providing a late flourish to the total, and added 104 runs without the loss of a wicket in the final session, which otherwise could have looked embarrassing for the visitors.
Earlier, after lunch, Rohit Sharma (9) and Ajinkya Rahane (35) came out to resume their partnership, and were looking to launch a fight back. Rohit lasted only 12 balls after the break though, edging Joseph behind on a delivery that swung away just a touch from the off-stump.
The immediate breakthrough put the West Indies in complete command of proceedings as Ashwin came out to bat. Saha and Ashwin took their time thereafter, and didn't look in any hurry whatsoever to score runs. This approach allowed the hosts to work on their plans and execute them without hassle.
And the bowlers built up constant pressure and didn¿t allow any easy runs to come by. The 100-mark came up for India in the 33rd over, but the first hour after lunch yielded only 35 runs. Over the course of the second hour¿s play, the scoring rate almost ground to a halt as only another 18 runs were added.
And that too with the additional loss of a wicket as Chase bowled Rahane in the 50th over, the batsman completely misjudging the flight. He had added 39 runs with Ashwin for the 5th wicket, with the runs trickling in at just 1.65 per over.
In the morning, West Indies won the toss and elected to field given the lively pitch here. They made two changes, bringing in Leon Johnson for dropped opener Rajendra Chandrika and then opting for 19-year-old pacer Joseph in place of leg spinner Devendra Bishoo. India made three changes from the Jamaica Test, bringing in Rohit, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Cheteshwar Pujara, Amit Mishra and Umesh Yadav, respectively.
Gabriel and Joseph then started proceedings with the new ball against Dhawan (1) and Rahul. Gabriel started off with couple loose deliveries that allowed Rahul to get going easily, and was in complete contrast to what was to come later on. Soon enough, the two worked up their pace and their plans bore fruit.
They used the short ball to good effect, particularly Gabriel as he squeezed Dhawan for room down the leg side. The left-handed opener looked to pull one in the third over, and edged to the keeper Shane Dowrich. Surprisingly then, skipper Kohli (3) came out to bat and was tested immediately with a mix of short and moving deliveries. It was a bold move, but it didn¿t work as Kohli edged a rising delivery from the young Joseph to first slip where Darren Bravo completed a regulation catch.
India were in all sorts of trouble then, but Rahul added 58 runs for the third wicket with Rahane who came in at no.4. The Karnataka opener continued his good run of form, and scored a chanceless first Test half-century. He was comfortable against the short ball attack from Gabriel-Joseph and then negotiated Miguel Cummins (0-36) and Holder easily as
well.
He helped bring up the 50-mark for India in the 13th over, and his 50-partnership with Rahane came off 68 balls. Thereafter he reached his fifty off 64 deliveries, as Chase came on to bowl. But off the very next ball, in the 20th over, fell to the West Indies¿ trap, as he hit straight to Kraigg Brathwaite (0-20) at short fine leg.
Rahane had looked uncomfortable against Holder again, but tightened up his game to survive until lunch. Rohit had come out to bat thereafter, and faced a couple testing overs from Gabriel. But he too survived the little phase before the break, even as the visitors were struggling at 87/3.
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