India's batting collapse gives Windies edge in 1st Test

Match as it happened

Match scorecard

There was an air of buoyancy on Monday morning. Sachin Tendulkar was scheduled to bat and the talk and anticipation of his much-awaited milestone had reached unprecedented levels.

The 100th century was round the corner and when he went in to bat, the roars from the stands reached a crescendo. Was it the day?

It was not. After pushing and prodding around for 25 minutes, Tendulkar fell to Fidel Edwards. His meek dismissal was a setback for the millions and millions of his fans. But that was only the beginning of the end. A bigger calamity awaited India.

The home team, known for the most formidable batting line-up in world cricket, soon collapsed like tumbleweed. A bunch of no-hopers, who were looking like babes lost in the woods in front of the Indian team, tamed the lions in their own den. The Indian innings, after a bright start, collapsed for 209, giving the West Indians, a lead of 95.

On a pitch that was keeping dangerously low and behaving excruciatingly slow, a lead of 95 runs is an earthquake. A spectacularly forgettable day for Indian batting was an eminently unforgettable day for cricket. Seventeen wickets fell on the day. The Test is in danger of ending in three days.

Indians regained some lost ground late in the day by striking early in the West Indies’s second innings but the visitors had gone ahead by 116. “Anything can happen. It’s a 50-50 game,” said Virender Sehwag after stumps on second day. Knowing Sehwag, one would have expected him to be more confident. The danger is very much lurking somewhere for the home team.

After their intransigence with the bat on Day One, the West Indians were aggressive with the ball. They attacked the Indian batsmen and reaped rich benefits. They bundled out the most ferocious batting line-up in just over 50 overs.

In the beginning, however, it was a different story. The Indian innings roared into life with Gautam Gambhir and Sewhag displaying their usual flair and array of attacking cricket. The Indian score was zooming along at more than six runs per over. Each was matching the other stroke for stroke and India appeared to be on track for a massive first innings total.

West Indies got a lucky break when Gambhir found stranded at the non-striker’s end by backing up too much to a straight drive from Sehwag that hit the stumps before touching Darren Sammy. That wicket led to a flurry of wickets with Sehwag, Tendulkar, Laxman back in the pavilion in a trice.

Tendulkar’s wicket — lbw to Fidel Edwards — came to the West Indies like Sensex boom for an investment banker. They tightened the screws with Devendra Bishoo and Sammy himself bowling good line.

India tried to recover through a partnership between Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid but once the left-hander was gone, failing to keep low a shot, India’s resistance wilted. Dhoni followed suit and Dravid was in danger of running out of partners. Ishant Sharma provided company for Dravid and the two ensured the Indian total crossed 200-run mark. But before it was too late, West Indies cleaned up the Indian innings.

The messiness around the batting did not deter skipper Dhoni’s confidence and he started the West Indies second innings with spinners at both ends. It paid off as R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha, who had a six-wicket haul in the West Indies first innings in the morning, removed the openers as the visitors ended the day at 21 for two.

Earlier in the morning, India did not take too much time to take the last five wickets in West Indies first innings. Ojha struck thrice for his first five-wicket haul. He finished with figures of six for 72. Ashwin too struck at the other end as West Indies innings ended for 304. It was however, too much for the Indians.