India 421 for 5 dec (Jaiswal 171, Rohit 103, Kohli 76) beat West Indies 150 (Athanaze 47, Ashwin 5-60, Jadeja 3-26) and 130 (Athanaze 28, Ashwin 7-71, Jadeja 2-38) by an innings and 141 runs
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s eighth 10-wicket match haul and first against West Indies accounted for India brushing aside West Indies by an innings and 141 runs inside three days in Dominica.
Ashwin followed up his first innings haul of 5 for 60 with 7 for 71 in the second, the best figures in Test cricket for an Indian in the West Indies, bettering his own 7 for 83 in Antigua during the 2016 tour. Only Ishant Sharma (10 for 108 in the 2011 Bridgetown Test) had a ten-wicket match haul in the West Indies before Ashwin’s 12-for. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja supported with three wickets in the first innings and two in the second while pacers Mohamed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur shared only three wickets on a pitch which offered extra bounce.
West Indies won the toss and got just 150 in the first innings of the 2-match series with debutant Alick Athanaze top-scoring with 47. Then facing a deficit of 271, the Caribbean side fell for 130 late on day 3. Their aggregate of 280 is the lowest against India in a Test match where they have been bowled out in both innings. The previous lowest was 322 runs at Sabina Park in 2006 and during the 2019 home series in Antigua. These are also the third-fewest runs by West Indies in a Test match at home. Only England with 230 in 1986 and New Zealand with 240 in 1968 feared worse.
India’s batting was led by 21-year old Yashasvi Jaiswal who smashed 171 in his first Test appearance. The left-hander was later named Player of the Match becoming the seventh Indian overall but only the third to capture the award away from home behind Pravin Amre and RP Singh. Captain and opening partner, Rohit Sharma stroked his 10th century while champion batsman Virat Kohli made a patient 76, his 29th half century. Wicketkeeper, Ishan Kishan also made his debut but just made 1 when the declaration was made with India 421 for 5.
The second and final Test begins on Thursday in Port-of-Spain at the Queen’s Park Oval where a better showing from the home side is required for them to share the series but looking at the form of both sides, West Indies will have to work hard to get back in the series.