On a spin-friendly track in Dominica, India dominated proceedings against West Indies, finishing the opening day on 80 for 0, in arrears by just 70 runs. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja combined to share eight wickets between them as the home side were bundled out for a mere 150. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal followed that up by ensuring that all Indian wickets remained intact at stumps.
The only time West Indies perhaps had something to cheer about was when Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and elected to bat. On a slightly tacky pitch, Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul provided the home side with a decent start of 31. The two Indian new-ball bowlers – Mohammed Siraj and Jaydev Unadkat – struggled to hit the right lengths against the back-foot play of Chanderpaul and Brathwaite. The opening duo were beaten on the outside edge no less than seven times, with Siraj and Unadkat mostly hitting a good-length spot.
Ashwin, who has taken both his five-fors away from Asia in the West Indies, was the first one to strike. He dragged Chanderpaul forward with his drift, and then the ball held its line to rattle the timber. Ashwin followed that up by dismissing Brathwaite, after the West Indies skipper got a leading edge to the fielder stationed in the covers as he tried to swipe one over the top.
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Raymon Reifer, the No.3 bat, has inferior numbers compared to Nkrumah Bonner, but the West Indies coaching staff seem to trust him over Bonner. Reifer, though, couldn’t repay the faith shown in him by the think-tank as he played an airy-fairy drive and edged one behind to the Test debutant Ishan Kishan. At the stroke of Lunch, Siraj back-pedalled to pouch a blinder at mid-off to remove Jermaine Blackwood. Ashwin was again the wicket-taker.
After the break, Alick Athanaze, playing on his home ground, gave a glimpse of his batting skills on debut. Despite the deck offering consistent turn, Athanaze seemed to judge the length quite nicely while facing Ashwin and Jadeja. Athanze, a left-hand batter, didn’t just defend with conviction but also essayed some delightful shots, with the flick off Jadeja perhaps the highlight of his innings. Just when it seemed as if he and Jason Holder were taking West Indies to calmer waters, Holder fell to a short ball from Siraj.
🚨Ravichandran Ashwin’s press conference :
-Reacts on becoming the 3rd Indian to claim 700 international wickets.
-Shares his thoughts on Day’s play and also opens up on his exclusion from the WTC Final.@Wowmomo4u @ashwinravi99 #RavichandranAshwin #WIvsIND pic.twitter.com/YNw8wD4zyI
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) July 13, 2023
Ashwin and Jadeja then combined to run through the rest of the order. Ashwin finished with figures of 5 for 60, while Jadeja took 3 for 26 from 14 overs. Meanwhile, Athanaze compiled an innings of 47 from 99 deliveries. Incidentally, he was the highest run-getter in the 2022-23 Caribbean Regional Four-Day Competition. He also topped the batting charts in the Under-19 World Cup in 2017-18.
Subsequently, the Rohit-Jaiswal pair consolidated India’s strong position with an unbeaten stand. Jaiswal opened his account in Test cricket with a boundary off Alzarri Joseph in the sixth over, as the openers negotiated the spells of Kemar Roach and Alzarri Joseph quite comfortably. The two spinners – Rahkeem Cornwall and Jomel Warrican – also looked ineffective.
The contrasting styles of the two openers also perhaps played a part in negating the threat of West Indies’ bowlers. Jaiswal camped more on the back foot, essaying cuts, sweeps and reverse sweeps. On the other hand, Rohit, in his trademark style, cracked fluent drives. As the pair started to assert their dominance on proceedings, the shoulders of West Indies’ fielders started to droop. On day two, the hosts need a few wickets in the first hour. Otherwise, it could be a very long day in the field.
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