WI v IND, 1st Test Review: Ashwin's 7-wicket haul ensures India an innings victory

The Indians completed an important victory over the West Indies in the first West Indies v India Test at Antigua by a mammoth margin of an innings and 92 runs. Incidentally, this was India’s biggest win outside Asia with the previous win coming against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 2005.

In spite of a few setbacks in the form of an injury to Murali Vijay, this was perhaps one of the most complete batting performances from the Indians. It also seemed as though all players made some sort of contribution to the side that led to the eventual victory.

There was a visible presence of grass on the wicket but Indian skipper Virat Kohli had absolutely no qualms about batting first. Shannon Gabriel and Jason Holder began to wreck havoc on the Indians initially as Vijay was the first to depart due to the pace of Gabriel. The wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, and Shikhar Dhawan fell as softly as ever as 31-year old Devendra Bishoo began to create a few problems for the visitors. However, at 236/4, the batting pair of Virat Kohli and Ravi Ashwin had other plans to counter the West Indies batting. Shikhar Dhawan shined primarily for the visitors, smashing a well-made 84 before departing for a leg-before.

Although they weren’t really batting at the positions they would have liked, they made do with their thick pieces of willows as they went about their business of scoring runs. Virat Kohli was clearly in his element as he went on to scale the 200-run mark while Ashwin kept his skipper company for the most part of their massive partnership. Day two saw Virat Kohli become the first Indian skipper to smash a Test double century overseas and additionally join a few players who boast of this amazing distinction.

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Ravi Ashwin also reached yet another century against the West Indies as India piled on the runs. In their quest for a massive first innings score, Amit Mishra too got in on the act as he smashed a wonderful and quickfire half-century as the Indians concluded their first innings for 566/8.

The West Indies first innings began in turmoil as Mohammad Shami struck on his comeback from a prolonged injury spell. Rajendra Chandrika (16), Darren Bravo (12), Marlon Samuels (1) and Jermaine Blackwood (0) fell to the swing and pace of Shami as the latter played the role of wrecker-in-chief. Before anyone knew it, the Windies were playing catch-up as they were making an attempt to avoid the follow-on.

The first innings saw the West Indies tail wag as they accounted for a high percentage of runs. Wicketkeeper-batsman Shane Dowrich was the pick of the batsmen as he smashed a valuable half-century as the home side were skittled out for a paltry 243, 323 runs adrift of the Indian total. On a quick side note, Kraigg Brathwaite was the quintessential hero for the Windies in the first innings as he smashed 75 and picked three incredibly valuable wickets.

Apart from a quickfire 50 from Marlon Samuels, it was the same story for the West Indies as they were made to follow-on in the second innings. Chandrika also kept the 35-year old company for a while as he slammed a wonderfully compiled 31 in a wonderful 67-run partnership. However, the pre-lunch session of play saw the home side fall away, losing a plethora of wickets in quick succession.

The post-lunch session was perhaps the most frustrating for the Indians as they failed to dislodge the resolute partnership between Carlos Brathwaite and Devendra Bishoo. They went on to score 51 and 45 respectively and added a useful 95 runs to the team total. Carlos Brathwaite remained unbeaten till the very end. However, the stronghold of the India bowling attack prevailed as they subsequently restricted the Windies to 231, bowling them out shortly after the Tea interval. Ravichandran Ashwin was named as the man of the match for his 113 in the first innings and figures of 7/83 in the second innings.

Brief Scores:

India, 1st innings: 566/8 dec. (V Kohli 200; K Brathwaite 3/65)

West Indies, 1st innings: 243 all out (K Brathwaite 75; M Shami 4/66)

West Indies, 2nd innings: 231 all out ( C Brathwaite 51*; R Ashwin 7/83)

Man of the match: Ravichandran Ashwin