DELHI TEST
Yashasvi Jaiswal scored his seventh Test ton © BCCI
West Indies suffered another torrid day on the field as Yashasvi Jaiswal punished them with an unbeaten 173 on Day 1 in Delhi. Beside Jaiswal, No.3 batter Sai Sudharsan capitalised on the conditions and the opposition to add a 193-run stand for the second wicket. Jomel Warrican produced two vicious deliveries for the two wickets but besides that, West Indies were largely listless.
Shubman Gill won his first toss in seven Tests as captain to give his batters a go in pristine conditions. KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal took the first hour slow, playing out 60 dots in the first 72 deliveries and heading to drinks at 29/0. Anderson Phillip, playing in place of Johan Layne, got the ball to seam around and forced the only half chance in that phase of play – an LBW appeal that went the other way on umpire’s call. The brief break energised Indian intentions as Rahul and Jaiswal both looked to pick runs more fluently in the second hour. Jaiswal drove Phillip down the ground fiercely in the 13th over and then against Justin Greaves.
KL Rahul flicked him away and then gave Jomel Warrican the charge for an 81m six on the leg side. The left-arm spinner though, hit back with a ball that turned deviously to dismiss the opener. The two balls before the wicket turned 2.7 degrees and 0.8 degrees respectively while the one that foxed Rahul turned a whopping 8.1 degrees.
Rahul was nowhere close to the ball after stepping out and was comfortably stumped by Tevin Imlach. Sai Sudharsan arrived with some pressure riding on him to come good at the crucial No.3 spot. He got an easy initiation as Warrican bowled a hit-me low full toss and the left-hander flicked it away for a four. The second-wicket stand picked up pace as India headed to Lunch at 94/1.
Jaiswal kickstarted the second session by cutting width offered by Jayden Seales for a four behind point. He hit two more in the same over to reach his half-century while also taking India past the 100-run mark.
West Indies looked listless in the second session as Jaiswal and Sudharsan scored at a fair clip to quickly bring up their 100-run stand, off just 141 deliveries. Only Joe Root has been involved in more century partnerships in Tests than Jaiswal since the latter’s Test debut in July 2023. Jaiswal was typically brutal but Sudharsan too dug in, further helped by the wayward lines from the spinners. Before Tea, Jaiswal raised his seventh Test century. Only Sachin Tendulkar has scored more than that (11) before turning 24.
Sudharsan meanwhile survived a dropped catch on 58 but couldn’t fully capitalise the opportunity and the conditions as he fell 13 short of his first Test hundred. Once again, Warrican was at the other end, turning this wicket delivery by 6.4 degrees. Breaking the big second-wicket stand didn’t turn out to be the opening West Indies hoped for as Shubman Gill joined Jaiswal to take the team to stumps without any further damage.
After accelerating through the middle session by scoring at more than four-an-over, India slowed a touch in the end but Jaiswal continued to go from strength to strength. Four of his six Test centuries before this innings turned out to be big ones, including two double hundreds. On Friday, he hit the best shot of his innings in the 88th over of the day – a cover drive that pierced an unmoved off-side field. He finished unbeaten on 173, taking India to 318/2 at stumps in the company of his captain.
Brief Scores: India 318/2 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 173*, Sai Sudharsan 87; Jomel Warrican 2-60) vs West Indies
© Cricbuzz
