North Sound: India maintain their stranglehold over the West Indies with a healthy 75-run first innings lead, which swelled to 89 by lunch time on the third day of the opening cricket Test here on Saturday.
India bowled out West Indies for 222 in 74.2 overs in their first innings in reply to 297 with Ishant Sharma returning with best figures of 5 for 43. Besides Ishant, Mohammed Shami (2/48) and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (2/64) scalped two wickets a piece. For West Indies, Roston Chase top-scored with 48, while skipper Jason Holder played a fighting 39-run knock as the hosts failed to build up partnerships. At the opening break of the third day, India were 14 for no loss in their second innings with Mayank Agarwal batting on 8 and K L Rahul on 6. Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 189 for eight, Holder and Miguel Cummins stuck together for 103 balls, forging a crucial 41-run partnership for the ninth wicket to take West Indies close to the Indian total. Holder kept a calm head and guided his younger partner Cummins brilliantly to get as close as possible to the Indian total. While Holder made 39 off 65 balls with the help of five boundaries, Cummins gave his skipper the right support from the other end by just staying at the crease although he couldn’t open his account. Cummins’ determination to stay at the crease and give his skipper company can be gauged from the fact that he played 45 balls for no runs. The Indian bowlers found it difficult to break the stubborn partnership between Holder and Cummins as they needed 85 balls in the opening session of the third day to dislodge the stand. The partnership was finally broken when Holder edged a Mohammed Shami delivery to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant behind the stumps in the 74th over. Left-arm spinner Jadeja finally drew curtains on West Indies innings when he cleaned up Cummins an over later. Ishant Sharma’s late burst broke the back of West Indies batting and the senior India pacer attributed the good show to pace bowling partner Jasprit Bumrah’s advice of trying cross-seam stuff.
Ishant took three wickets from his final three overs to complete his ninth five-wicket haul in Tests as West Indies trail by 108 runs with just two first innings wickets in hand on Friday. “There was rain and after that the ball became wet and there was nothing happening (with the ball). So, we thought we can bowl with a cross seam. There was bounce. Actually Bumrah told me that we can try cross seam since there is nothing happening,” Ishant, who returned with figures of 5/42, said. “The attempt was, if you bowl out the opposition as soon as possible, it is good for your team. We tried that we were able to do that,” he told fielding coach R Sridhar who interviewed him for bcci.tv.
Brief scores: India 297 (Rahane 81, Jadeja 58, Rahul 44, Roach 4/66) & 14/0; West Indies 222 (Roston Chase 48, Jason Holder 39, Ishant Sharma 5/43). (PTI)
