Ashwin Magic Spell 7/83 stars India’s first innings comprehensive win in West Indies – won by an innings and 92 runs
India 566 for 8 decl. (Kohli 200, Ashwin 113, Dhawan 84, Mishra 53) beat West Indies 243 (K Brathwaite 74, Dowrich 57* Yadav 4-41, Shami 4-66) and (f/o) 231 (C Brathwaite 51*, Samuels 50, Ashwin 7-83)
t might not be having the same gleam, but it’s still an overseas Test win and India will take it. With this, they go 1-0 up in the 4-match series. West Indies have a lot of thinking to do, especially with their bowling attack which is racked with bowling all-rounders, who may not necessarily be their best bowlers. It does lengthen the batting, but on evidence here, that’s not much of a factor. Anyway, we’ll see what they do in Jamaica.
Kohli: “Wow. I didn’t know that (Biggest win margin outside Asia). Just feels good to get the first win on the board. Everyone was excited to play the game, we had enough practice and everyone was eager to get on with it. Scoring wasn’t that easy initially, West Indies bowled well. Couple of their bowlers rushed the batsmen. With 5 batsmen and at 70-2, we had to take responsibility. Shikhar was batting very well. Ashwin as well, brilliant innings down the order. And to have someone like him getting a ton down the order is wonderful. With 5 batsmen, we had to deepen the order so we had Ashwin at six. He’s pretty good at both. We had a look at the wicket, our initial thought was 3 spinners, but with the amount of grass on offer we decided for 3 pacers. Ishant was unlucky despite bowling well. Really happy for Shami who is coming after injury, he’s a perfect Test bowler. Umesh is bowling well and Ishant is consistent as always. That’s the challenge for modern day batsman, the change of format is so quick that you have to adapt. We have to be smart about it. Sandeep Patil asked me whether I felt like hitting a six during the innings, but with 5 batsmen you don’t feel like hitting a six. I’m just happy to contribute to the win. Our aim is obviously to win every game. I think we have a good bowling combination, if they give us a drier wicket, we have the spinners.”
2nd Test: West Indies v India at Kingston on Jul 30-Aug 3, 2016