Ahmedabad: Ravindra Jadeja was menacing on a track offering turn as he ran through the West Indies top-order with three wickets, leaving the hosts tottering at 66 for 5 at lunch on the third day of the opening Test against India.
The match is poised for an an early finish as Indian spinners are expected to wrap it up in the post-lunch session.
Jadeja (3/30 in 11 overs), who remained unbeaten on 104 after India declared overnight at 448/5 with a massive 286-run lead, wrecked havoc in that frail batting order which fell like a pack of cards once again, while Kuldeep Yadav (1/15) and Mohammed Siraj (1/16) also had their share of contributions.
It all began with India’s declaration, which expedited the inevitability as only one result was possible given the state of the West Indies team.
And it did not take long for the floodgates to open.
On what had been largely a docile, batting-friendly pitch on the second day when Indian batters made merry, the declaration call was made keeping in mind to utilise any movement and assistance from the pitch early in the morning.
But even though the surface did not assist the Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj a great deal, it was only a matter of time before the West Indies batters made a beeline to get back in the dressing room as soon as they came out.
Openers Tagenarine Chanderpaul (8) and John Campbell began on a positive note but it was the brilliance of Nitish Reddy at square leg which produced the first breakthrough in the eighth over.
Chanderpaul, who pulled one short ball from Siraj, was left in disbelief when Reddy flung himself on his left and was parallel to the ground when he took the catch and landed back with the ball lodged firmly in his hands.
It didn’t take long for India to introduce spin and vice-captain Jadeja was overjoyed when Campbell (14) lobbed one straight to short leg in a meek display of batting from a Test opener.
Jadeja had his second when West Indies No 4 Brandon King (5) hung his bat out to poke at one spinning away from him, to be caught at the first slip by KL Rahul who took a good, low catch.
West Indies captain Roston Chase (1) was no match for Kuldeep’s brilliance, who tested him with an array of variations before bamboozling him with one that was shorter in length and straightened and knocked down his off-stump.
It didn’t take long for the fifth wicket to fall when the most dependable of the West Indies’ batters Shai Hope, pushing himself at No. 6, cut one outside off from Jadeja, but Yashasvi Jaiswal was simply brilliant at short third man to quickly move to his right and take a diving catch to extend West Indies’ plight.
Amid the batting ruins, Alick Athanaze stood his ground, reaching 27 not out with some well-executed reverse sweep hits for three fours. He was accompanied by Justin Greaves (10).
