West Indies vs. India: Cricket
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Contents |
History
A brief overview: till 2016
India vs West Indies: What the statistics say, October 4, 2018: The Times of India
Though India are strong favourites against the West Indies despite their recent Test series defeat in England, the Virat Kohli-led side cannot afford to be complacent as the Jason Holder-led West Indies will be heading into the series on the back of a successful home season where they drew a Test series against Sri Lanka and then drubbed Bangladesh 2-0.
It will be West Indies' first India tour since the Caribbean side abandoned their 2014 trip due to a players' pay dispute with their national cricket board.
India have the perfect opportunity to find a solution to their top-order batting woes before their year-end series in Australia.
Here's a look at some of the statistics between India and West Indies in Test cricket:
MATCHES IN INDIA
Tests: 45
Won by India: 11
Won by West Indies: 14
Draws: 20
OVERALL
Tests: 94
Won by India: 18
Won by West Indies: 30
Draws: 46
MOST RUNS (OVERALL)
Sunil Gavaskar: 2749
MOST HUNDREDS (OVERALL)
Sunil Gavaskar: 13
MOST WICKETS (OVERALL)
Kapil Dev: 89
MOST FIVE-WICKET HAULS IN AN INNINGS (OVERALL)
Malcolm Marshall: Six
2013-14: Indian victories
INDIA'S LAST 5 WINS OVER WI
RUCHIR MISHRA The Times of India Mar 04 2015
A PERFECT GAME
DHARAMSALA (OCT 17, 2014)
India 330-6 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 127, Suresh Raina 71, Ajinkya Rahane 68) beat West Indies 271 in 48.1 overs (Marlon Samuels 112; Bhuvneshwar 2-25, Axar 2-26) by 59 runs.SUMMARY: Led by a superb top-order show, India posted a massive total on the board, maintaining a good run rate throughout and had partnerships right till the end. Then, the new ball bowlers struck early blows and that proved decisive despite a fightback by Samuels and Russell.LESSONS: Early strikes by pacers let the spinners dictate terms during the middle overs.
ESCAPE TO VICTORY
DELHI (OCT 11, 2014)
India 263-7 in 50 overs (Kohli 62, Raina 62, Dhoni 51*; Jerome Taylor 3-54) beat West Indies 215 in 46.3 overs (Dwayne Smith 97, Kieron Pollard 40; Md Shami 4-36, Ravindra Jadeja 3-44) by 48 runs.SUMMARY: It was a case of the opposition gifting the game rather than India winning it. West Indies were under control for most of the match while chasing 264 till they goofed up during the Powerplay. They lost two set batsmen when they needed just a run a ball. Then, Shami and Jadeja ran through the middle and lower order.LESSONS: One of the top-order batsmen should anchor the innings to help India post a big total.
SHIKHAR SHINES
KANPUR (NOV 27, 2013)
West Indies 263-5 in 50 overs (Samuels 71, Kieran Powell 70, Darren Bravo 51; R Ashwin 2-45) lost to India 266-5 in 46.1 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 119, Yuvraj Singh 55).SUMMARY: A perfect game for India where they did most of the things right. On a good batting surface, they restricted the opposition to a manageable score. The pacers didn't take early wickets but didn't go for runs and the spinners suffocated the middle order. Despite losing two early wickets, India chased down the target with ease as Dhawan anchored the innings with a brilliant ton.LESSONS: Instead of leaving it for others, a set batsman should finish the job.
SPINNERS TO THE FORE
KOCHI (NOV 21, 2013)
West Indies 211 in 48.5 overs (Darren Bravo 59; Jadeja 3-37, Raina 3-34) lost to India 2124 in 35.2 overs (Kohli 86, Rohit Sharma 72) by six wickets.SUMMARY: Indian spinners pulled it back after some wayward spells from fast bowlers. West Indies struggled to get going against the slower bowlers and fell way short of a competitive total. With a sensible second-wicket stand, India chased the down the target with ease.LESSON: The spinners may also have an off day and in that case, India can give away too many runs as the pacers could be profligate.
KOHLI SPECIAL
PORT OF SPAIN (JULY 5, 2013)
India 311-7 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 102, Shikhar Dhawan 69; Rohit Sharma 46; Tino Best 2-51) beat West Indies (Revised target: 274 in 39 overs) 171 in 34 overs (Jonathan Charles 45; Bhuvneshwar 3-29, Umesh Yadav 3-32) by 102 runs (DL method).SUMMARY: Indian top order did a decent job after being put in bowler friendly conditions and despite the middle-order collapse, India managed to cross the 300-run mark, thanks largely to Kohli's responsible hundred. Indian pacers utilised the conditions better than their West Indian counterparts and the hosts were never in game while chasing.
LESSONS: Indian batsmen should be careful during the batting powerplay.
They almost frittered away a great start.
ODIs
A brief history, till 2017
Bowling: Top five spells, till 2017
Ahead of the ODI series between India and West Indies, here's a look at the top five most successful ODI bowling spells in matches played between the two teams:
Anil Kumble: 6/12 at Kolkata (1993)
This bowling spell was one for the record books. It was notched up in the Hero Cup final in front of a boisterous Eden Gardens crowd on November 27, 1993. Chasing 226, the top four Windies batsmen were removed by Manoj Prabhakar (took Phil Simmons' wicket), Sachin Tendulkar (dismissed Brian Lara) and Kapil Dev (removed Richie Richardson and Keith Arthurton) respectively. From then on, it was Anil Kumble all the way, who ran through the Windies line-up, picking up as many as six wickets giving away just 12 runs off 6.1 overs as India won the match by 102 runs. Kumble's 6/12 remained the best ODI bowling figures by an Indian for 21 years.
Patrick Patterson: 6/29 at Nagpur (1987)
The sight of Patrick Patterson running in to bowl was enough to instill fear in the hearts of batsmen. The high lift of the left leg and smashing it down on the pitch with his brute force, only added to his fearsome aura. Patterson's burly physique and broad shoulders were enough to send the red cherry screaming through on the surface and it was one of those days on December 8 1987 at Nagpur when he really let it rip. Patterson sent the Indian batsmen scurrying for cover as the hosts failed to chase down a 204-run target and were bundled out for 193 runs in 44.4 overs. Patterson's 6/29 in 9.4 overs helped the West Indies to win the match by 10 runs.
Vivian Richards: 6/41 at Delhi (1989)
A surprise entry on this list. Vivian Richards first scored 57 runs with the bat and then turned the match on its head with the ball as India failed to chase down a 197-run target on October 23, 1989. India were seemingly cruising, till Richards came into the attack after the likes of Curtly Ambrose, Winston Benjamin, Courtney Walsh and Malcolm Marshall. The Indian batting order just collapsed like a pack of cards as Richards bamboozled the host batsmen with his slow deliveries. Richards' 6/41 in 9.4 overs saw India crashing to 176 all out, enabling the visitors to register a 20-run victory.
Nikhil Chopra: 5/21 at Toronto (1999)
This was a time when Ricardo Powell was the new kid on the block, famous for his lusty hits. But his 73-ball 76, studded with 7 sixes and 3 fours was not enough to carry the Windies to victory on September 14, 1999. Nikhil Chopra's five-wicket haul (including the dismissals of Brian Lara and Mervyn Dillon off successive balls and four outstanding catches by Rahul Dravid) saw the Windies being bowled out for 137 runs in 34.2 overs. Though Chopra's 5/21 off 6.2 overs was overshadowed by Powell's brilliant power-hitting, in the end it was India who emerged victorious by 88 runs in the final of the DMC Cup in Canada.
Sanjeev Sharma: 5/26 at Sharjah (1988)
Sanjeev Sharma played only 23 ODIs for India, taking 22 wickets in his career. But those 22 wickets included a dream spell of 5/26, that was registered in the first match of the Champions Trophy in Sharjah on October 16, 1988. Riding on Krishnamachari Srikkanth's 112 and Dilip Vengsarkar's unbeaten 76, India scored 238/5 in their 50 overs vs the West Indies. Sharma outshone his new ball partner, the great Kapil Dev, by taking five wickets in 7.3 overs. Narendra Hirwani took 4/50 but Sharma was the wrecker-in-chief as India won the match by 23 runs.
Guwahati: India wins by eight wickets
From: Pratik Bandyopadhyay, ROHIT-VIRAT BLITZKRIEG STEAMROLLS WINDIES, October 22, 2018: The Times of India
From: Pratik Bandyopadhyay, ROHIT-VIRAT BLITZKRIEG STEAMROLLS WINDIES, October 22, 2018: The Times of India
India Race To 8-Wicket Win In First ODI After Hetmyer Cracks A Dazzling Century
Performance delights, class wins. It is the class of Indian batting that made the difference in the first One-day International between India and the West Indies at Barsapara Cricket Stadium here. In the first ODI hosted by this stadium, India handed the Windies their first ever defeat in this city, by eight wickets.
The 323-run target was made to look too easy in the end by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The chase was reminiscent of the one these two pulled off against Australia at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on October 16, 2013. On that occasion the target was bigger and the bowling better, albeit on paper. India had won with 39 balls to spare with just one wicket down, this time they won with 47 balls to spare with two down. Moral of the story --- no matter how many runs India chase, they will win with overs to spare if Virat and Rohit are on song.
It became so easy at one point on Sunday that an over without a boundary or a six became a rarity. The West Indian bowling and fielding became listless after the first few overs. Full tosses and boundaries through the legs started following each other. With dew playing its part, Jason Holder & Co were under so much pressure that they were found guilty of flouting field restrictions more than once.
West Indies started their defence of the total well, with debutant Oshane Thomas bowling in the high 140s, hurrying both Indian openers. That resulted in Shikhar Dhawan playing on to his stumps. The young quick even had Kohli in a spot of bother when he induced an outside edge with surprising bounce. That stirred the genius’s ego and the next ball got a picture-perfect flick through mid-wicket for four. There was no stopping him after that.
Rohit, meanwhile, was going at close to run-a-ball with the occasional boundary. He became more aggressive after completing his fifty as he always does. Eventually. he took four balls less than Kohli to complete his century. Kohli had taken 88, he took 84. It looked as if they were batting against bowling machines and practising their drives, pulls, cuts, sweeps till Devendra Bishoo finally got one to spin past the bat and Shai Hope whipped off Kohli’s bails.
It is a pity that the visitors’ day ended in such a way because their show with the bat bettered expectations.
What do you do when a West Indian left-hander is short, has a big back lift, pulls standing on one leg and is in sublime form? You watch and admire. Even if you are the opposition captain. That is what Virat Kohli was left to do for a major portion of the West Indies innings as he saw them pile up 322 for eight.
The brilliance of baby-faced Shimron Hetmyer (106 off 78 balls) reduced the Indian captain to one of the 37,000-strong crowd who got a hint of what Caribbean cricket used to be in its better days. When the centurion eventually got out, the spectators were on their feet and Kohli went up to the kid, shook hands and patted him on the back. But he did not stop there. He put on an even better show with his own bat.
Mumbai: India’s 224-Run Victory
From: Nitin Naik, Rohit, Rayudu Tons Set Up Massive 224-Run Victory In Fourth One-Dayer, October 30, 2018: The Times of India
India skipper Virat Kohli showed he is human after all. He did not get a hundred in the fourth ODI against West Indies at the Brabourne Stadium. He feathered one off pacer Kemar Roach to wicketkeeper Shai Hope and was dismissed for 16.
That was the only time that one sensed the crowd. Sometimes, the silence of even a small crowd can be deafening.
And that is what one heard as India, after electing to bat first on a belter, ended up with a massive 377 for 5 courtesy hundreds from Rohit Sharma 162 (137 balls, 20x4, 4x6) and Ambati Rayudu 100 (81 b, 8x4, 4x6).
Kohli might have missed out on a fourth successive ODI ton but he more than made up for it in the field by running out Kieran Powell at the non-striker’s end with a Jonty-like diving stop at cover and an Azharuddin-like backward flip.
The run out typified India’s intensity in the field as one of West Indies’ mainstays, Shai Hope, too was run out by a direct hit from Kuldeep from mid-on. Hope’s departure for a duck crushed any hopes the Windies had of staging a fightback. Khaleel Ahmed further dented their spirits by bowling with skill and energy to dismiss Shimron Hetmyer, Roman Powell and Marlon Samuels. The visitors were bowled out for 153, crashing to a 224-run defeat.
India now lead the five-match series 2-1 with the fifth to be played at Thiruvananthapuram (weather permitting) on Thursday.
While Kohli disappointed the crowd that had turned up to watch him bat, his deputy did not. Rohit, a local hero, creamed, caressed, pulled and drove delightfully to compile his 21st ODI century. His footwork and placement were exemplary and what was refreshing was his willingness to take on the anchor’s role once Kohli departed and leave the risk taking to Rayudu.
Rayudu was more than game for that role. After showing caution initially, he came into his own. The temperamental Hyderabad batsman has been given the vote of confidence to bat at No. 4 by Kohli for a reason. He is good against pace and spin and off the latter, he uses the depth of the crease and his feet beautifully. He can also rotate the strike using soft hands.
Rayudu displayed all those traits on Monday to collect timely boundaries and ease the pressure on Rohit.
Not that Rohit was averse to risk-taking but he need not take many when he has three strokes for every ball and every length once set. He showed a familiar appetite for destruction on flat tracks on Monday too as he extended his record of most 150-plus ODI scores to seven.
Rayudu endured a quiet period briefly, but soon resumed his attacking role to get to his third ODI hundred.
It was evident on match eve itself how comfortable Rayudu was with the surroundings the moment he walked in to the CCI. After all, it was here that his career renaissance had begun in 2010 when he played for Mumbai Indians after a spell in the wilderness and a stint with the renegade ICL.
Rohit and Rayudu’s 211-run alliance for the third wicket off just 163 balls will deflect criticism off Shikhar Dhawan who wasted yet another good start this year. The opener looked in dazzling touch but pulled a short delivery off Keemo Paul straight down midwicket’s throat to be dismissed for 38, prompting Paul to mimic the thigh-five celebration that the opener often indulges in after pouching a catch.
Dhawan has batted 18 times in ODIs this year, but has fallen between 30 and 50 nine times.
Pune: West Indies beat India by 43 runs
Amit Karmarkar, FINALLY, A WIN FOR THE WINDIES, October 28, 2018: The Times of India
From: Amit Karmarkar, FINALLY, A WIN FOR THE WINDIES, October 28, 2018: The Times of India
Kohli’s Third Ton On Trot Can’t Prevent India’s 43-Run Defeat
When Virat Kohli fielded near the boundary line, that section of the crowd led the chanting, and the stadium followed. But when Virat walked back to the pavilion, an entire stadium fell silent. The Indian captain scored his third successive ton – 107 off 119 balls – in the series, but the West Indies were able to pull off a 43-run win in the third ODI at Gahunje Stadium.
The Pune outcome gave Kohli’s ton a unique dimension. His three successive hundreds in the series have now ended with all the possible results: a win, a tie and a defeat.
The result put the series level at one-all and either side need to win the remaining two games to clinch it.
The visitors’ first win of the tour couldn’t have come at a better time, and in the city where they had famously lost to Kenya in the 1996 World Cup. The West Indies were playing here for the first time since that game 22 years ago.
West Indies made 283-9 with comeback pacer Jasprit Bumrah taking 4-35. India replied with 240 in 47.4 overs with offie Ashely Nurse (2-43) and Marlon Samuels (3-12 in 3.4 overs) – who dismissed Kohli — hurting them the most. Skipper Jason Holder got the scalp of MS Dhoni (7) caught behind.
Kohli’s ton contained 10 fours and a six (at a strike rate of 5.39 per over). The rest of the Indian batsmen scored 127 off 167 (strike rate 4.56 per over).
It was Kohli’s 23rd ODI ton while chasing a target and only the third in a losing cause after Napier (123 vs NZ, 2013-14) and Canberra (106 vs Aus, 2015-16).
When an edgy and unconvincing MS Dhoni got out, India needed 90 more runs of 14.1 overs with five wickets in hand. Then came a Kohli hundred without his animated celebration. He knew that task of 82 runs off 12.5 was not that easy given the conditions.
Earlier, it was left to the West Indies tail to wag and hurt the hosts. India had succeeded in keeping West Indies under 300 after allowing them to score 320-plus in the first two ODIs. But after 121-5 in the 23rd over here, they allowed the West Indies lower order to add 162 runs. The visitors’ ninth-wicket pair of Kemar Roach (15) and Nurse (40 off 22) added 56 runs in 36 balls.
After his unbeaten 123 at Vizag, the West Indies No. 3 bat Shai Hope’s attempt to score a second successive ton fell short by just five runs. His 95 came off 113 balls with six fours and three sixes before he was yorked by Bumrah.
When Shimron Hetmyer was batting all guns blazing (37 off 21 balls, 2x4s, 3x6s), Hope was happy to play second fiddle. His contribution in their 56-run stand that came in 6.2 overs was mere 18. But later, he took over anchoring the innings and was the eighth man out when the score was 227.
Kohli called correct after winning the toss and fielded first. He also didn’t interfere much with field suggested by former skipper Dhoni.
300 England’s Chris Broad has become the second referee after Sri Lanka’s Ranjan Madugalle (338) to officiate in 300 or more matches in ODIs.
76 Wickets taken by Bumrah at 21.09 runs apiece in 42 matches. His tally is the highest among pacers since Bumrah made his ODI debut. Trent Boult (73 at 25.41 in 38 matches) and Hasan Ali (73 at 22.39 in 38 matches) are joint second.
71.83 Shai Hope’s average while scoring 431 runs in seven innings, including a hundred and three fifties, against India.
4/35 Jasprit Bumrah’s figures, his best in 18 One-dayers in India. His previous best was 3/35 vs New Zealand in Delhi on Oct 20, 2016.
Vishakhapatnam: A tie
Vivek Krishnan, Virat takes a bow, Windies tie, October 25, 2018: The Times of India
From: Vivek Krishnan, Virat takes a bow, Windies tie, October 25, 2018: The Times of India
Visitors Lose Way In Final Overs Despite Hope’s 123*& Hetmyer’s 94 In Second ODI
It doesn’t always happen that both teams finish disappointed at the end of an engrossing eight-hour struggle. But Virat Kohli and Shai Hope’s faces said it all— both believed they could win till the last ball, yet both fell short, albeit for a tie. Hope (123 not out) Shimron Hetmyer (94) were quite outstanding and West Indies finally turned up in a daunting run chase of 322, but it wasn’t enough.
Chasing 322 after Virat Kohli struck his 37th ODI hundred and became the fastest to 10000 ODI runs, the visitors seemed well on course for a victory when they needed 22 off 18 balls with Hope at the crease. But leggie Yuzvendra Chahal’s miserly over, which yielded only 2 runs and the run out of Jason Holder, brought the pressure back on the visitors. Mohammed Shami followed up on the good work of Chahal and conceded six runs in the 49th over, bringing the equation down to 14 from the last over.
West Indies were a bit fortunate when a leg-bye went for four in the second ball of the last over bowled by Umesh Yadav. Umesh, though, managed the wicket of Ashley Nurse in the over, and it came down to five off the last ball. But Hope kept his calm and slashed on the offside that went for four and the game was tied.
It wasn’t at all easy for the Caribbeans after Kohli had battered and bruised them with an unbeaten 157 from 129 balls as India reached 321 for 6.
But for the West Indians, Hope and Hetmyer were instrumental in turning the tables. During their 143-run partnership in 119 balls for the fourth wicket, Hetmyer played the role of aggressor, taking a special liking to the leg side against the three spinners.
The left-hander kept hitting sixes for fun, picking both Chahal and Kuldeep, and there was a time when it seemed that West Indies would run away with it. But with the asking rate reading less than six, Hetmyer’s inexperience came to the fore when he tried an extravagant pull off Chahal and skied it to Kohli. The nerves crept in after that for West Indies and the onfield Indian thinktank of Kohli and MS Dhoni kept making things even more difficult for the chasers with their smart manoeuvres. But Hope ensured that the visitors at least had something to show after such a good day’s work.
Earlier, Rayudu provided Kohli good company after joining hands at 40 for 2 with a 139-run partnership for the third wicket from just 142 balls. This was an ideal opportunity for Rayudu to play a substantial knock and strengthen his hold on the No. 4 spot. With an innings of 73 from 80 balls, it’s safe to say he made most of it.
As they began to find their groove, the West Indian shoulders expectedly began to drop. The tourists weren’t helped by their fielding either, with skipper Holder himself guilty of dropping Kohli on 44 while running back from mid-off.
Kohli duly made them pay by bringing up his second consecutive hundred, an authoritative cut through the off-side off Marlon Samuels getting him there. After that, there was simply no stopping him. While he smashed rookie Obed McCoy for a couple of sixes over longon, the maximum off Kemar Roach through cover in the 48th over was one for posterity.
Test matches
Rajkot test: India won by an innings, 272 runs
From: Gaurav Gupta, India Romp To Their Biggest Test Win As Windies Hit Rock Bottom In Rajkot, October 7, 2018: The Times of India
“I had expected a defeat, but not this badly. It’s disappointing. This wicket wasn’t that bad to bat on, but we got out twice on it in 98.5 overs. In the years gone by, that pitch would have turned after the first half an hour. This is it, we’ve hit rock bottom,” lamented former West Indies captain Carl Hooper moments after watching his team crash to a hugely embarrassing innings and 272-run defeat, within three days, at the SCA Stadium here.
Hooper was right. Even by their rapidly deteriorating standards, the reckless way in which the West Indies batted after following-on and conceding an ocean-sized lead of 468 runs in the first innings, left everyone surprised. It was the biggest Test win for India ever, while for the hapless West Indians, this was their second-worst defeat in Test cricket.
Playing as if they were auditioning for the IPL, the players from the Caribbeans were bowled out for 181 in the second innings, ‘slogged’ their way to 196 in the second, taking just 50.5 overs to fold up. For two consecutive Tests at home now, India have played and thrashed absolutely listless teams. In June, they blasted out debutants Afghanistan by an innings & 262 runs inside two days in Bangalore.
How such ridiculously one-sided contests will help attract crowds in Test cricket — a perennial problem with the five day format — is a question which needs to be taken seriously by the BCCI, the broadcaster, and everyone concerned with the game. Even as the visitors put up an apology of a show, India did manage to collect a few positives for themselves. Recovering from a forgettable outing against England in the Lord’s Test, where he went for 44 runs in nine overs without taking a wicket, chinaman Kuldeep bagged his maiden fivewicket haul in Test cricket — taking 5/57 in the second innings, something which may help him re-discover selfbelief in the longest format.
Mumbai’s young opener Prithvi Shaw, who cracked 134 on his Test debut, achieved a rare distinction of being named Man of the Match in his first game itself. Rishabh Pant dropped a couple of catches on Saturday, but his attacking 92 shows India have a potentially explosive batsman in Tests at No. 6.
Resuming at 94/6, the West Indies seemed to be improving on their shoddy show on Day Two, as Roston Chase (53; 79b, 8x4), and Keemo Paul (47; 49b, 7x4, 2x6) added 98 for the seven wicket. Both swept the spinners well before the partnership was broken by Umesh Yadav, who got Paul out hooking. It was a smart piece of captaincy from Virat Kohli, who moved Pujara to midwicket before Yadav hurled a short ball.
Soon after getting to his sixth Test fifty, Chase was dropped by Pant off Ashwin, but the bowler didn’t have to agonize much as he had his man in his next over. Chase went for a big drive, stretched his bat way beyond his body, and inside-edged a turning delivery from Ashwin on to his stumps. You felt for debutant Shermon Lweis when Ashwin unleashed a carrom ball which left the tailender completely bamboozled.
Pant dropped another catch, this time off Devendra Bishoo off Ravindra Jadeja, but bounced back with a good stumping of Shannon Gabriel, after Ashwin had flicked a carom ball. Ashwin finished with 4/37 in the first innings.
The sole bright spot for West Indies in the second innings was left-handed opener Kieron Powell, who chose attack as the best form of defence while smashing his way to 83 off 83 balls (8x4, 4x6) against a strong attack.
Hyderabad test: India won second Test by 10 wickets
From: JAC Gladson, Umesh Yadav’s 10-Wicket Haul Helps India Win 2nd Test By 10 Wickets To Register 10th Successive Series Win At Home, October 15, 2018: The Times of India
It’s a rare feat, an Indian fast bowler winning a Test match on Indian soil. Umesh Yadav’s 10 for 133 was stouthearted as it triggered another three-day rout of Windies, marked by a pathetic display of Test match batting.
In engineering a spectacular collapse that lasted a mere 46.1 overs and saw Windies roll over for 127 on Sunday, Umesh ensured a meagre target of 72 runs that India achieved to win the second Test by 10 wickets and the series 2-0 – their 10th straight series win at home since losing to England in 2012. Prithvi Shaw and KL Rahul applied the finishing touches as the hosts ended up with 75 without loss.
All credit to Umesh for his brilliant charge that made him the third Indian quick to bag a 10-for on home soil after Kapil Dev did it twice and Javagal Srinath once. The 19,164 faithful who congregated at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium took home plenty of happy memories and none better than the three deliveries of Umesh that Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich and Shannon Gabriel dragged on to the stumps for returns of four for 45.
The Indian spearhead missed the hat-trick twice in the day. On the first occasion, the split hat-trick was averted by Kragg Brathwaite and the second time by Jason Holder with Chase in the mix both times. The Chase-Holder duo had revived the visitors’ first innings with their 104-run stand for the seventh wicket but there was to be no repeat act as Windies were staring down the barrel by then, thanks in the main to Umesh.
Working up tidy pace, the right arm quick posed questions for which the Windies batsmen had no answers. Rattled first up by a yorker that nearly cannoned into his stumps, Brathwaite succumbed to the very next delivery, glancing Umesh only to see Rishabh Pant come up with a fine catch.
Windies were 56 runs in the red and worse was in store as offie R Ashwin maintained the stranglehold with a beautiful first spell of 6-2-13-1 that accounted for Kieran Powell, smartly pouched by Ajinkya Rahane at slip. Runs were hard to come by – Windies got their first off the 17th delivery – and two soon became three and four as Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope fell in the space of four deliveries. Their only hope of surviving the day rested on Holder. The Windies captain was a picture of calm despite the carnage around him and in Sunil Ambris found an ally with a common task: delay the inevitable.
Ravindra Jadeja had other ideas, though. Ian Gould failed to spot a faint edge off Holder’s bat. But the review went in India’s favour. The hosts had reason for more joy soon after the 38-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Holder and Ambris was terminated, the latter too was trapped in front, a straightforward decision which the batsman reviewed unsuccessfully.
It was just a matter of time before the Windies folded up in less than two sessions after India were dismissed 15 minutes into the extended first session. India’s hopes of a big lead rested on their overnight pair of Rahane (80; 259min, 183b, 4x7) and Pant (92; 203min, 134b, 4x11, 6x2). But the former failed to keep down a Shannon Gabriel delivery that reared up from a length and the latter once again failed to complete his century. Despite Ashwin’s defiance for 119 minutes in scoring 35 and Shardul Thakur batting on one leg, India had to settle for 367 thanks to Holder’s five for 56, much less than they expected after starting the third day on 308 for four.
The lead of 56 runs proved adequate to pummel the Windies into submission. Ashwin (2/24), Jadeja (3/12) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/45) played their part too.
