Ahmedabad, Oct 02: Mohammed Siraj (4/40) missed out on a well-deserved five-for but helped India bowl a struggling West Indies out for 162 shortly before tea on the opening day of the first Test here on Thursday.
Siraj took three wickets upfront in a lethal seven-over spell in the first session and added one more post lunch but was could not complete his fifer. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah appeared to be finding back his rhythm with the red-ball nailing a couple of yorkers to return 14-3-42-3.
Kuldeep Yadav (2/25), who had produced a jaffa to dismiss Shai Hope earlier in the morning session, took the final wicket of the innings when he got Jomel Warrican (8) caught behind reverse-sweeping.
An early tea was taken as the West Indies were bundled out in 44.1 overs on a pitch that appeared to have eased out a little compared to the morning session when the new ball was in play.
Siraj returned into the attack post lunch and produced the ball of the innings, squaring up Roston Chase (24), who couldn’t fend off an incoming delivery for an outside edge that also kept ‘keeper Dhruv Jurel guessing until the last moment.
With four wickets in the bag, the lionhearted India pacer remained in search of his fifth and nearly had it, if not for a right DRS appeal from Greaves.
Siraj hit the front pad on an angled delivery to the right-handed Greaves, and the on-field umpire adjudged him out leg-before. However, replays showed the ball would have missed the leg stump by a long margin.
Later, Siraj also found an outside edge off Greaves’ bat later on, but the ball did not carry to the cordon.
The last of the India bowlers to come into the attack, Washington Sundar (1/9) produced an outside edge off Greaves’ bat in the 36th over when he was on 25, but KL Rahul could not hold on to a low catch at first slip.
Undeterred, Sundar then trapped debutant Khary Pierre (11) leg-before with one that drifted into the left-hander sharply and rapped him on the pads in front of of the stumps.
All-rounder Greaves, who top scored with 32 (48 balls, 4 fours) and put on 39 vital runs for the seventh wicket with Pierre, did well to push West Indies’ total towards 150.
But neither Greaves nor the other debutant Johann Layne (1) could keep out Bumrah’s accurate yorkers with both losing their off-stumps. (AgencieS)
