After India decided to not prolong the agony and declare at their overnight total, it was always a question of when rather than whether. The when eventuated at 1.40 pm, when the last of the West Indian second innings wickets fell at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday, giving Shubman Gill a commanding victory in his first Test as captain on home soil.
Having lasted 44.1 overs in the first innings whilst making 162, West Indies survived six deliveries longer a second time around when Kuldeep Yadav took a return catch on the second attempt to account for Jayden Seales. The visitors were skittled for 146, India opening up a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series following their innings-and-140-run romp.
Resisting the temptation to add more meaningless runs to their already commanding 448 for five, which had placed them 286 in front at stumps on Day Two, Gill pulled the plug on the Indian innings first thing in the morning.
No chance for West Indies
West Indies had no chance of coming out of the situation unscathed; all they could do was delay the inevitable, reduce the margin of defeat and boost their confidence if they could stretch the match to Day Four. But even that was well beyond them against India’s supremely skilled bowling group whose leader, ironically, went wicketless.
Jasprit Bumrah bowled only six overs — making it 19 for the match, so workload shouldn’t really be an issue heading into the second Test starting in Delhi on Friday — but he wasn’t required to stretch himself with Mohammed Siraj providing the early breakthrough, again with the scalp of Tagenarine Chanderpaul, before Ravindra Jadeja came to the party. The rough outside the left-handers’ off-stump meant left-arm finger spin would be a factor, and Jadeja exploited that superbly while finishing with four for 54. Coupled with his unbeaten hundred, it made him the obvious choice for the Player of the Match award in a game where several Indians filled their boots.
Not at the top of their fielding game in the first innings, India were much improved on Day Three. Nitish Kumar Reddy took a screamer, parallel to the ground, as he dived to his left at square-leg to evict Chanderpaul and Yashasvi Jaiswal possibly surprised even himself with a sprawl to the right at point which led to Shai Hope’s dismissal. The WI top order didn’t show heart or application, not until Alick Athanaze and Justin Greaves bedded down while realising 46 for the sixth wicket.
Sundar dismisses Athanaze
Washington Sundar, the last of the five bowlers to be handed the ball, provided the breakthrough by forcing a leading edge from the left-handed Athanaze, after which it was pretty much game over. Seales helped himself to a couple of towering sixes, throwing caution to the wind with the writing on the wall. Long before that, his more skilled batting colleagues, unfortunately, had done likewise, catalysing a second embarrassing collapse and the inevitable crushing defeat.
Brief scores
West Indies 162 & 146 all out (A Athanaze 38; R Jadeja 4-54, M Siraj 3-31, K Yadav 2-23) lost to India 448-5d (D Jurel 125, R Jadeja 104*, KL Rahul 100; R Chase 2-90) by an innings and 140 runs