NORTH SOUND, Antigua, CMC – Captain Virat Kohli produced a sublime exhibition of batting to carve out his 12th Test hundred and first against West Indies, as India dominated the opening day of the first Test here yesterday.
The right-hander finished the day on a superb unbeaten 143 as India, opting to bat first at the Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium, closed on 302 for four.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan stroked a handsome 84, Ravi Ashwin chipped in with 22 not out while Ajinkya Rahane also made 22, but it was Kohli who stood heads and shoulders above his contemporaries with an innings of the highest class. Relishing an excellent batting strip, the 27-year-old carved out 16 boundaries in a knock requiring 197 deliveries.
He was the anchor of the innings, putting on a 105 for the third wicket with Dhawan – the highest third wicket partnership at the ground – before adding a further 57 for the fourth wicket with Rahane.
The last hour of the game was then dominated by Kohli and Ashwin as the pair posted 66 in an unbroken, fifth wicket stand.
Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo was the best bowler with three for 108, with two of his wickets coming via long hops which the batsmen failed to put away.
Fast bowler Shannon Gabriel produced a hostile opening spell in the morning session but faded thereafter while seamers Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite, along with debutant off-spinning all-rounder Roston Chase, offered little threat.
Asked to field, West Indies owned the first hour of play thanks to Gabriel who bowled with pace and aggression to claim opener Murali Vijay for seven at 14 for one in the seventh over of the morning.
In the fifth over, he rattled Vijay and Dhawan with fast, short-pitched deliveries which they fended off. However, the barrel-chested Trinidadian got the better of Vijay in his following over as the right-hander stabbed a lifting delivery to second slip where Kraigg Brathwaite snared the catch on the second attempt, moving in front of first slip.
Dhawan weathered the difficult period to add 60 for the second wicket with the right-handed Chesteshwar Pujara, who made 16, in guiding India to lunch at 72 for one.
Emerging from a tentative start, Dhawan blossomed nicely to be unbeaten on 46 at the break, with Pujara untroubled on 14.
Bishoo brought West Indies back into the game in the first over after lunch when he had Pujara caught at point by Brathwaite, top-edging a pull at an innocuous, short delivery, after adding just two runs to his score at the break.
However, the Windies’ hopes of making further inroads were then dashed as Kohli and Dhawan controlled the session with their century stand.
All told, Dhawan faced 149 balls overall in four hours at the crease, counting nine fours and six – an upper cut over wide third man off Gabriel.
He brought up his half-century – his third in Tests – in the sixth over after lunch and continued to grow in confidence, sweeping Bishoo to the square leg boundary to move into the 70s and then repeating the same shot a few overs later to enter the 80s. Dhawan appeared set for three figures when he missed a sweep at Bishoo two balls before tea and perished lbw, as India went to the interval on 179 for three.
Afterward, it was all Kohli. He had earlier raised his half-century 25 minutes before tea by cutting Carlos Brathwaite to the backward point boundary and following up next ball with a sweetly timed off-drive for four.
On 65 at tea, he gathered his runs quickly on resumption. He punched Chase to the extra cover boundary to ease into the 80s and raced into the 90s with a lovely off-driven four off Bishoo.
Just before the hour mark, Rahane tugged a short, wide delivery from Bishoo from well outside off, straight to Darren Bravo at short mid-wicket, after facing 36 balls and counting four fours.
Unperturbed, however, Kohli reached his century off 134 balls in the following over when he turned Carlos Brathwaite to backward square for a single.
He then celebrated with back-to-back boundaries on either side of the wicket in the next over from Bishoo before splitting a packed off-side field in the Guyanese’s next over with surgical drive, to collect his 14th boundary.
He found a willing ally in Ashwin who has so far faced 69 balls and counted two fours, to ensure India ended strongly.
Scoreboard
INDIA 1st innings
M Vijay c K Brathwaite b Gabriel 7
S Dhawan lbw b Bishoo 84
C Pujara c K Brathwaite b Bishoo 16
*V Kohli not out 143
A Rahane c Bravo b Bishoo 22
R Ashwin not out 22
Extras (b4, lb2, nb2) 8
TOTAL (4 wkts, 90 overs) 302
To bat: +W Saha, A Mishra, I Sharma, Mohammed Shami, U Yadav
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-74, 3-179, 4-236.
Bowling: Gabriel 13-4-43-1 (nb1), Holder 17-4-41-0 (nb1), C Brathwaite 15-3-46-0, Chase 17-0-54-0, Bishoo 27-0-108-3, K Brathwaite 1-0-4-0.
WEST INDIES – K Brathwaite, R Chandrika, D Bravo, M Samuels, J Blackwood, R Chase, +S Dowrich, C Brathwaite, *J Holder, D Bishoo, S Gabriel.
Toss: India.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, I Gould; TV – G Brathwaite.