ROSEAU: West Indies finally prised out debutant century-maker Yashasvi Jaiswal and added the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane but India remained in complete control at 400 for four at lunch on the third day of the first Test in Dominica on Friday.

Already facing the prospect of an innings defeat on a deteriorating pitch with the tourists’ lead standing at an imposing 250 runs, the Caribbean team didn’t help their cause when captain Kraigg Brathwaite dropped a regulation catch offered by Virat Kohli off left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican.

On 40 at the time, the champion batsman and former skipper’s painstaking effort has taken him to 72 off 170 balls at the break in partnership with Ravindra Jadeja (21 not out).

Getting to 171 off 387 deliveries in more than eight hours in the middle, Jaiswal was undone by the extra pace and bounce extracted by fast bowler Alzarri Joseph in edging a catch to wicket-keeper Joshua da Silva after an hour’s play to break a 110-run third-wicket partnership with Kohli.

Senior seamer Kemar Roach then accounted for vice-captain Rahane who mistimed a drive to Jermaine Blackwood at extra-cover.

After lunch on Thursday, Jaiswal’s record opening partnership of 229 with captain Rohit Sharma had drained the enthusiasm of a Caribbean side hampered by the absence through illness of one of their main spinners, Rahkeem Cornwall, for much of a sun-drenched day.

It came to an end 15 minutes before the tea interval when Sharma, having just stroked a boundary to get to three figures, gloved a delivery from West Indies debutant Alick Athanaze for alert wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva to dart forward and complete the catch.

Local hero Athanaze, who was called upon to do more work than expected with his off-spinners in Cornwall’s absence, then showed sharp reflexes at gully to remove new batsman Shubman Gill off left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican.

Jaiswal and former captain Virat Kohli (36 not out) then played watchfully through the final session and survived a few anxious moments in an unbroken third-wicket stand of 72 which sets the visitors up perfectly on day three to further extend a lead which already stands at an imposing 162 runs.

With rain forecast over the scheduled final two days of the match, it is likely that India will be hoping to get at the West Indies batsmen in the second innings by the third afternoon as they pursue a comprehensive victory to get the new cycle of the World Test Championship underway with maximum points.

Jaiswal’s innings, the highest by an Indian debutant outside of his home country and the third highest for Indian debutants overall behind Shikar Dhawan (187) and Sharma himself (177), underscored not just his immense talent but also the 21-year-old’s powers of concentration and ability to adapt his game to meet the requirements of Test cricket.

“This was a really emotional experience for me,” said a tired but obviously overjoyed Jaiswal at the end of the second day. “The pitch was pretty difficult. (It spins) too much here and the outfield is really slow. It was just important for me to keep talking to Rohit and Virat and keep rotating the strike. I kept telling myself to just stay out there and kept pushing myself to perform for my country.”

SCOREBOARD

INDIA (1st Innings, overnight 312-2):

Y. Jaiswal c Da Silva b Joseph 171

R. Sharma c Da Silva b Athanaze 103

S. Gill c Athanaze b Warrican 6

V. Kohli not out 72

A. Rahane c Blackwood b Roach 3

R. Jadeja not out 21

EXTRAS (B-8, LB-11, W-5 24

TOTAL (for four wickets, 142 overs) 400

STILL TO BAT: I. Kishan, R. Ashwin, S. Thakur, J. Unadkat, M. Siraj

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-229 (Sharma), 2-240 (Gill), 3-350 (Jaiswal), 4-356 (Rahane)

BOWLING: Roach 19-5-41-1, Joseph 18-2-78-1 (1w), Cornwall 11-3-22-0, Warrican 45-4-106-1, Holder 18-5-40-0, Brathwaite 9-0-21-0, Athanaze 16-2-53-1, Reifer 4-0-16-0, Blackwood 2-0-4-0

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2023