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Ravichandran Ashwin and the Indian spinners were the heroes for India heading into the third session on Day 1 of the first Test of the two-Test match series against West Indies in Roseau, Dominica on July 12. The side were 68 for 4 at lunch but lost four more wickets in the second session as Ashwin bagged four wickets.
It was also a memorable session for Ashwin, who, with his third wicket of the game, reached the impeccable milestone of 700 International wickets. He is just the third Indian after Anil Kumble (953) and Harbhajan Singh (707) to reach this landmark.
Indian spinners dominate
The Indian spinner dominated Day 1, getting six of the eight wickets that the Windies batters had lost. Ashwin removed both openers, before Ravindra Jadeja also got one more, courtesy of Siraj's brilliant fielding, leaving the West Indies reeling at 68. The other wicket was taken by Shardul Thakur before lunch. and then Mohammed Siraj entered the party after lunch.
At the break, debutant Alick Athanaze (13 batting) was at the crease with the West Indies managing to hit only 6 fours in 28 overs during the first session.
Opting to bat first, West Indies openers Tagenarine Chanderpaul (12) and Kraigg Brathwaite (20) felt the wrath of the likes of Siraj (0/17 in 8 overs) and Jaydev Unadkat (0/7 in 5 overs). The rewards of their pressure was reaped by Ashwin with his 2/25 in 10 overs. as he made life uncomfortable for the two openers.
Ashwin at his best
West Indies skipper Brathwaite, easily the best Test batter in the side over the last five years, was increasingly getting frustrated as Ashwin bowled slightly quicker at times to him. He did try to hit out of trouble with a slog-swept boundary but the canny operator fired one across the line, inducing Brathwaite to go for a mindless bottom-handed slog over mid-on. However, the mistimed slog only became the easiest skiers for skipper Rohit Sharma stationed at cover.
Left-handed Raymon Reifer (2 off 18 balls) never looked in control as Siraj softened him up with some short balls. So when Shardul, who is a notch slower came into the attack, he wanted to come on front foot and get his cover drive going. Shardul quickly slipped one across the stumps and the thick outside edge was snapped by a diving Ishant Kishan behind the stumps.
After lunch, the state of the West Indian batters was no different. Joshua da Silva was the fifth wicket to fall after he scored just two runs. Jason Holder could also only score 18 runs, while Alzarri Joseph managed only four runs. His wicket was taken by Ashwin, in what was his milestone 700.
Soon, eight wickets were down for a score of 129 runs, with Alick Athanaze, who played a fighting innings of 47 off 99 balls in his debut match, the final batter to lose his wicket before the Tea break.
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