West Indies struggled to 68/4 at the end of the first session of the first Test against India in Dominica after allowing skipper Craig Brathwaite to bat first. R. Ashwin quickly removed the top two batters, and Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja each claimed a wicket to advance West Indies past the top four.
Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah bowled with the new ball in hand as both fast bowlers maintained composure to trouble the opening batters of the West Indies. Siraj was on target, even getting the ball to travel past the outside edge of the West Indies captain on a few times, but occasionally veering down the leg side, one of which Brathwaite successfully evaded following a boundary and a tight leave. Nkrumah Bonner also found it difficult, as Bumrah frequently tormented him with his off-line deliveries, occasionally smashing the bat and angling the ball towards the stumps.
However, Siraj wasn’t always in command of his line, occasionally going down the leg side or bowling too much, allowing West Indies to score a few runs. Additionally, Bonner struggled against Brathwaite as he consistently edged balls outside of off-stump, striking some of them and missing others, and occasionally even sending them past the stumps. When Ashwin made an attacking play in the eighth over, Brathwaite’s inside edge was instantly caught, just missing short leg. Brathwaite hit a boundary in the middle of the wicket during the same delivery. But Ashwin quickly retaliated, dismissed Bonner with a well-placed delivery shortly before the intermission.
Siraj was reintroduced to the assault and kept Roston Chase off balance with a combination of short and well-pitched deliveries. While this was going on, Brathwaite tried to attack Ashwin, but his attempts to move to the leg-side gave the spinner the upper hand, and he took his second wicket. Following Ashwin’s over and a review for a caught-behind ruling, the umpire’s call resulted in India winning the judgment to lbw Jermaine Blackwood.
Reifer, however, quickly lost his wicket as well after getting an outside edge off a delivery from Shardul Thakur that was collected by rookie Ishan Kishan with fellow rookie Yashasvi Jaiswal at first slip. A wicket was also taken by Ravindra Jadeja in the last over before lunch when Blackwood was caught beautifully by Mohammed Siraj. Newcomer Alzarri Joseph continued to go unblemished as West Indies lost ground in their precarious situation.
Brief Score: West Indies 68/4 (Craig Brathwaite 20; Ravichandran Ashwin 2-25, Ravindra Jadeja 1-6, Shardul Thakur 1-7) vs. India.
