Watch: Mohammed Siraj takes a stunner to dismiss Jermaine Blackwood in IND vs WI 1st Test
Mohammed Siraj pulled off an excellent catch right at the stroke of Lunch as India reduced West Indies to 68/4 at the end of the first session on Wednesday.
In the 28th over, Jermaine Blackwood went for a big hit down the ground off Ravindra Jadeja but couldn’t time it. The ball ended up being sliced towards mid-off where Siraj back-tracked and stuck out his right hand to complete a stunning catch.
Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin removed both openers with his sheer artry as West Indies crawled to 68 for 4.
Shardul Thakur (1/7 in 3 overs), operating as the third seamer in overseas conditions for the first time, continued with his happy knack of picking wickets, while Jadeja (1/6 in 2 overs) also found his name in wickets column.
Miyaan Bhai ki daring 😯 #INDvWIonFanCode #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/LUdvAmmbVr
— FanCode (@FanCode) July 12, 2023
At the break, debutant Alick Athanaze was at the crease as West Indies could hit only six fours in 28 overs bowled during the session. Opting to bat first, West Indies openers Tagenarine Chanderpaul (12, 44 balls) and Kraigg Brathwaite (20 off 46 balls) went into a shell during the first hour as both Siraj (0/17 in 8 overs) and Jaydev Unadkat (0/7 in 5 overs) settled down to a nice fuller Test match length, beating the outside edge of both openers on multiple occasions.
The pressure created the pace duo did reap dividends as Ashwin (2/25 in 10 overs) slowed the pace of his deliveries, used the available drift to a good advantage to make life uncomfortable for the two openers.
There was a nice loop and he did challenge both inside and outside edge during the second hour.
Tagenarine’s stance and trigger shuffle from leg to off-stump does have an uncanny resemblance with his illustrious father Shivnarine although he is slightly more side-on compared to his ‘Old Man’.
Sensing his shuffle, Ashwin got one to hang in the air and drift into the southpaw, who played inside the line only to find it beat his outside edge after pitching and there was a death rattle.
West Indies skipper Brathwaite, easily the best Test batter in the side over the last five years, was increasingly getting frustrated as Ashwin bowled slightly quicker at times to him.
He did try to hit out of trouble with a slog swept boundary but the canny operator fired one across the line, inducing Brathwaite to go for a mindless bottom-handed slog over mid-on. However the mimed slog only became easiest skiers for skipper Rohit Sharma stationed at cover.
Left-handed Raymon Reifer (2 off 18 balls) never looked in control as Siraj softened him up with some short balls.
So when Shardul, who is a notch slower came into the attack, he wanted to come on front-foot and get his cover drive going. Shardul quuckly slipped one across the stumps and the thick outside edge was snapped a diving Ishant Kishan behind the stumps.
