North Sound Antigua: Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli scored attacking fifties as India breezed to 179 for 3 at tea on day one of the first Test against the West Indies here today.
At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Dhawan (84) and Kohli (65 batting) put up 105 runs for the third wicket as the visitors took control on the opening day.
India were placed at 72/1 at lunch, and Dhawan walked out with Cheteshwar Pujara (16) after the break. The number three batsman had done all the hard work in the first session, seeing off shine of the ball and looked to attack against the slower bowlers. But he was too eager to get going in this second session and threw away his hard work almost immediately as play began.
Devendra Bishoo (2/47) was brought in to bowl after lunch, and on the very fourth delivery of his first over, Pujara played too early and simply lobbed the ball to point for an easy catch. He only added two runs to his score.
Kohli then came to the crease and assumed control of the innings. He didn’t attack overtly, finding a nice balance with his defensive work and was quickly off the mark. Shannon Gabriel (1/29) bowled a short spell but was not able to trouble the batsmen after the spell earlier in the first session, even as Kohli quickly moved pass the 3000-run mark in Test cricket with his first boundary.
The Indian skipper smacked another five boundaries in his fifty that he reached off just 75 balls. In doing so, he kept the scorecard moving and took pressure off Dhawan after Pujara s fall.
The left-hander had reached his third half-century off 84 balls post-lunch, and looked to solidify his position at the crease. He left as many deliveries as possible but still brought out the attacking shots whenever warranted. The stand-out stroke was a cut-shot over the slip cordon for six off Gabriel.
Bishoo was erratic in his line and length, not helped perhaps by the left-right combination at the crease and runs flowed easily. The duo brought up their 50-partnership in the 41st over and the 100-mark in the 53rd over, as the next fifty runs came off just 12 overs. Just as they looked comfortable enough to go into the tea break, the leg-spinner trapped Dhawan in front of the wicket and got the breakthrough West Indies wanted.
Earlier, India were subjected to some testing spells in the first session after they had won the toss and elected to bat. Left-arm Ravindra Jadeja was left out with the think tank opting to go in with three pacers instead.
(Sourced from agencies, Feature image courtesy:www.oneindia.com)
