Ashwin and Jadeja spin dup traps the West Indies team on the 1st day of the 1st Test. West Indies made 150/10 in their 1st innings and India in response made 80 runs without any loss of wickets at the end of the day. India is 70 runs behind to get the lead.
In the morning, West Indies won the toss and they elected to bat first on the 1st Test. But their decision turned around as Indian bowlers showed a full dominating performance. Caribbean openers started their innings and put runs with a slow pace. In the 13th over, T Chanderpaul missed an off break from Ashwin and the balls dislodged the bails. He goes after making 12 runs. Then Ashwin took the wicket of another opener K Brathwaite, where Rohit took a simple catch in the covers. He departed after scoring 20 runs.
Shardul Thakur gets his first and 3rd for India by dismissing R Reifer. Ishan Kishan took a beautiful catch diving to its left. Reifer made 2 runs. Just before lunch, Jadeja dismissed Blackwood when he was at 14 runs. Siraj took a spectacular catch. Post lunch the first one gone was Joshua Da Silva. He was a little confused in playing the spin and Jadeja took this advantage and got his wicket. He made only 2 runs.
Then the highest partnership for the West Indies came for the 6th wicket between Holder and Athanaze which is 41 runs. Siraj broke this partnership and took the wicket of Holder. He contributed 18 runs to 41 runs partnership. Alzarri Joseph was the next one who departed. Ashwin gets the credit for this damage and his carrom ball did it again. Joseph made only 4 runs.
Then the debutant Athanaze and the highest scorer from the side for 1st innings traps by Ashwin. He contributed 47 runs. He was highly disappointed by the shot he played and shook his head down during the return to the pavilion. Then Jadeja took the next one by dismissing Roach at the score of 1 run. He appeals for LBW but the umpire refuses in which India takes a review and three red lights were there and umpire eventually had to reverse his decision. Last man was Warrican, Ashwin took his wicket. He made 1 run. Cornwall remains not out at the score of 19.
Indian bowlers showed great dominance on day 1 especially their spin department who took 8 out of 10 wickets. Ashwin took 5 wickets and completed his 700 international wickets. Jadeja grabbed the 3 wickets while Siraj and Thakur got 1 wicket each.
After that Indian openers gave a solid start to the team. Yashasvi Jaiswal made 40 runs and Rohit Sharma made 30 runs. They both remain not out at the end of the day. India were 80 runs without any wickets fell. Lets see on day 2 will there be any change of fortune for the Indies or India will again show the power of dominance in batting also.
After the match Ashwin said:
“Thought it was a pretty good performance. There was a bit of moisture on the pitch earlier but it started to spin later. Saw on the TV as well that it turned more later. Had to adapt early. It was a bit dry, I had to get the pace right to trouble the batsmen. International cricket is all about adapting to different conditions. With so many leagues around, we can get carried away with a few performances in these leagues but international cricket is different. Jaiswal is a vibrant cricketer, extremely talented. I hope he goes on to do great things in his career. I think we’re going to see some special performances from him.”