AP, St. John’s :
India took complete control of the first Test after dismissing West Indies for 243 on Saturday and forcing the hosts to follow on.
Having started the third day on 30-1 – 536 runs behind India’s massive 566-8 – West Indies’ first innings never gained any purposeful momentum, losing wickets at regular intervals in a disappointing display.
The standout performance came from Kraigg Brathwaite, who scored a determined 74 whilst his teammates were regularly dismissed. Shane Dowrich (57) and captain Jason Holder (36) weren’t able to build on promising starts.
Following on, West Indies reached 21-1 at stumps in its second innings from the final 13 overs, Brathwaite falling for just 2 as he was unable to reproduce his first-innings form. Ishant Sharma took the wicket, trapping Brathwaite leg before wicket.
The hosts now trail India by 302 runs with two days of play left.
Earlier, India’s pace attack played a key role in destroying West Indies’ first innings. Mohammed Shami blitzed through West Indies’ middle order, taking 4-66.
Fellow paceman Umesh Yadav was then able to tear through much of the rest of the batting line-up, taking the key wicket of Brathwaite and ending with 4-41.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra also got in on the act, taking the last wicket of the innings to leave him with figures of 2-43.
Captain Virat Kohli hit 200 in India’s first innings, whilst Ravichandran Ashwin (113) and Shikhar Dhawan (84) helped to give the tourists a formidable total.
