As expected, India began their World Test Championship with a huge victory against West Indies. Here are the complete India West Indies 1st test highlights 2019.
Kohli leaves but Rahane continues
India West Indies 1st test highlights, Day four began for India with 185/3 with Virat Kohli (51*) and Ajinkya Rahane on the crease. The intention was clear. The idea was to set a huge target for the West Indies to chase down during second innings. But after adding just two more runs to the total the skipper was gone. Kohli’s innings was finished with the overnight score of 51. Hanuma Vihari walked in and joined Rahane with the same focus.
Rahane’s challenge was to go past his previous score in the first innings and score a century. He anyway proved his worth and the controversy of why he was preferred over Rohit Sharma took backstage, well at least for this series. Rahane went on to score the much-needed Test ton for himself and got involved in a very crucial partnership in the course.
Rahane, who was in the hunt for one century for last 17 Tests in more than two years time, hit his 10th Test hundred (102 off 242 balls) in the second innings of India’s World Test Championship campaign opener. Even he termed it as a special one post the match. “It feels special. “Getting this hundred after 29 or 30 innings. I’ve been getting 70s, but getting a 100 means a lot to me.”
Vihari, the right choice
Rahane had one dependable partner at the other end, who never let feel that most of the top order was back to the pavilion. Kohli’s dismissal never really put any pressure on India as he took the momentum from exactly where Kohli left. The partnership of 135 helped India to set a target of around 400 runs and be assured about the victory. Once Rahane was gone with 322/5 on board, Vihari was on 80 and India were literally waiting for those precious 20 runs.
Even Vihari was probably aiming for that magic figure mainly when Rishabh Pant joined him. But the 21-year-old could add only seven to the total and be pouched by the substitute Keemo Paul off Roston Chase. India were 336/6. India West Indies 1st test highlights could not record Hanuma Vihari’s first test hundred. The next over saw Vihari falling seven runs short of his maiden Test hundred. Vihari hit the ball in the middle but the ball took an under-edge and went through to the keeper’s gloves. Virat Kohli quite expectedly declared the innings on 343/7. The guy with the Test match probably left the question of choosing between him and Rohit Sharma and that must be the best part for him.
Bumrah, the match-winner
A target of 419 runs was never going to be easy for West Indies. Indians were favorites at the time with the bowling unit Virat had. On the other hand, the challenge for Jason Holder’s team was to survive in front of the deadly Indian pace attack for almost two days to claim a draw.
What followed next was an amazing show for the Indian fans. Even the Windies fans started to enjoy it towards the end of the match. India West Indies 1st test highlights was Jasprit Bumrah. The lethal pacer gave the first breakthrough and never stopped. West Indies were losing wickets at regular intervals. The scoreboard showed, 1-7, 2-10, 3-10, 4-13, 5-15, 6-27, 7-37, 8-50, 9-50. Jasprit Bumrah singlehandedly ran through the top order of the lineup, with effective penetrations from Ishant Sharma. Bumrah again proved to be the most effective weapon of Virat Kohli to win matches. There’s certainly no delivery that Bumrah cannot bowl. It was impossible for the Windies batters to settle in front of him. A few runs on the board and he was coming back to take the wicket. There was absolutely almost no partnership during the second innings of the hosts. Well, almost. Bumrah ended the India West Indies 1st test highlights with 8-4-7-5. He added a new record to his name. No player from Asian before him has taken a 5-wicket haul in four different countries – South Africa, England, Australia and now West Indies. Four out of five wickets Jasprit Bumrah claimed in the second innings were via bowled. He thus became the first Indian pacer to dismiss four batsmen “bowled” in Test innings.
Sharma and Shami, the helping hands
But after Bumrah’s fifth wicket in the 16th over Virat introduced of Mohammed Shami. When people were expecting the last wicket would also fall in moments, West Indies started developing a partnership. Kemar Roach and Miguel Cummins added 50 runs together for the ninth wicket. For India, it was just a matter of time to seal the match and West Indies were fighting just for the sake of it. Shami took the last wicket of Roach and West Indies were wrapped up for 100. Shami ended the innings with 2/13 in five overs. Ishant Sharma once again showed his caliber and experience. He took three wickets for just 31 runs in 9.5 overs. He provided the exact support and did the needful.
India won the match by 318 runs and registered their biggest win in terms of runs outside India. Virat Kohli became only the third Indian captain and the 12th in overall to win as many as 100 matches in International cricket. Virat Kohli is now the most successful Indian captain away from home as he led India to 12 victories. Sourav Ganguly’s 11 wins outside India was surpassed by Kohli in this match. Overall, Kohli now has 27 wins in Test cricket as captain and he holds the record the jointly alongside MS Dhoni. India got each of Windies’ top five batters for single digits in the second innings. This is only the third instance of them dismissing opposition’s top five for single figures in a Test inning.
Brief scores:
India 297 and 347/7d won by 318 runs vs West Indies 222 and 100
Ajinkya Rahane (102), Hanuma Vihari (93); Roston Chase (4/132)
Kemar Roach (38), Miguel Cummins (19); Jasprit Bumrah (5/7), Ishant Sharma (3/31)