Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin tormented the West Indies yet again to claim a second consecutive five-wicket innings haul and dismiss the home side for 196 on the opening day of the second Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica on Saturday. Lokesh Rahul then made the most of his inclusion in the final 11 in place of the injured Murali Vijay, reaching an unbeaten 75 as India closed the first day at 126 for one in reply.
Ashwin followed up his haul of seven for 83 in the final innings of the first Test a week earlier with five for 52 on a pitch offering turn and bounce from the very first session of play.
He became just the third Indian bowler to have five-wicket innings hauls in three consecutive Test matches after fellow spinners Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and current coach Anil Kumble.
"Going into any match I assess the batsmen in the opposition to see if I have dismissed them before," said Ashwin after the day's play.
"I then work on getting them out based on their strengths and weaknesses. It's never as easy as it looks sometimes but it's gone really well for me in the last two innings."
Having ended the only substantial resistance from the home side when he dismissed Jermaine Blackwood for a run-a-ball 62 in the last over before the lunch interval, Ashwin added swiftly to his tally in the afternoon session, accounting for Marlon Samuels for 37 to a sharp catch at short-leg by Rahul and following up with the wickets of Shane Dowrich, Devendra Bishoo and captain Jason Holder in quick succession.
Blackwood and Samuels had put on 81 for the fourth wicket in the morning with Blackwood the dominant partner, stroking seven fours and four sixes in his counter-attacking innings.
But it was not enough as the clatter of wickets resumed after he was trapped LBW by Ashwin.
"Marlon (Samuels) encouraged me to just stay positive and play my natural game," said Blackwood. "I wanted to put the bowlers under some pressure. It was very disappointing to get out when I did, very emotional really. I just hope I can do even better in the second innings."
Debutant Miguel Cummins heaved his way to an unbeaten 24 in an entertaining 38-run last-wicket stand with Shannon Gabriel before leg-spinner Amit Mishra ended the innings to put the seal on another efficient effort in the field by the visitors.
India were in control virtually from the start of the match after Holder's decision to bat first on winning the toss as the West Indies slid to seven for three within 25 minutes of play.
SCOREBOARD
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West Indies 1st Innings
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K. Brathwaite c Pujara b Sharma 1
R. Chandrika c Rahul b Shami 5
D. Bravo c Kohli b Sharma 0
M. Samuels c Rahul b Ashwin 37
J. Blackwood lbw Ashwin 62
R. Chase c Dhawan b Shami 10
S. Dowrich c wkpr Saha b Ashwin 5
J. Holder c Rahul b Ashwin 13
D. Bishoo c Dhawan b Ashwin 12
M. Cummins not out 24
S. Gabriel c Kohli b Mishra 15
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Extras: (w-2, nb-10) 12
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Total: (52.3 overs, all out) 196
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Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Brathwaite), 2-4 (Bravo), 3-7 (Chandrika), 4-88 (Blackwood), 5-115 (Samuels), 6-127 (Dowrich), 7-131 (Chase), 8-151 (Bishoo), 9-158 (Holder), 10-196 (Gabriel)
Bowling: I. Sharma 10-1-53-2 (7nb), M. Shami 10-3-23-2 (1nb, 1w), R. Ashwin 16-2-52-5, U. Yadav 6-1-30-0 (1w), A. Mishra 10.3-3-38-1 (2nb)
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India 1st Innings
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K.L. Rahul not out 75
S. Dhawan c Bravo b Chase 27
C. Pujara not out 18
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Extras: (b-4, lb-1, nb-1) 6
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Total: (37 overs, 1 wkt) 126
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Fall of wicket: 1-87 (Dhawan)
To bat: V. Kohli, A. Rahane, R. Ashwin, W. Saha, A. Mishra, M. Shami, I. Sharma, U. Yadav
Bowling: S. Gabriel 6-1-18-0 (1nb), M. Cummins 7-0-31-0, J. Holder 8-2-23-0, R. Chase 11-2-28-1, D. Bishoo 2-0-13-0, K. Brathwaite 3-1-8-0
Toss: West Indies
Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Ian Gould (ENG)
Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SLK).
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