India wrap West Indies for 108 to win third Test
© Getty
After Bhuvneshwar Kumar's fiery spell had set up the platform on Day 4, Ajinkya Rahane steered India past the 200-run mark today to help set a target of 346. But India wrapped the Windies up at just 108 to win the third test and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match Test series.
India declare early
Building on the total of 157 from day 4, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma would have looked to score some quick runs in the morning. But, Rohit fell in the second ball of the day to an unlucky decision after he was given out lbw off a Cummins delivery. Replays showed he had, in fact, edged the ball on to his pads. But India's bad luck would not end there. Wriddhiman Saha, who came in next, had scored 14 at a run-a-ball when Cummins received another lucky decision. Saha had edged the ball to the keepr, but replays showed that Cummins had over-stepped. But the umpire had not referred the decision, and there was no going back.
Kohli still held Ashwin back and sent Jadeja over in search of quick runs. But Cummins would acount for the southpaw as Jadeja went for a huge swing only to end up skying it to Samuels who took a diving catch. Ashwin finally came and went, and Kohli then declared the innings at 217/7 with almost 90 overs left in the final day giving India a good chance to win the Test.
West Indies crumble
West Indies struggled to maintain composure in the chase, as Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar stung their opponents with fierce swinging deliveries bagging a wicket each. Mohammad Shami removed opener Leon Johnson for a duck in his second over, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up where he left off in the first innings by removing Carlos Brathwaite for an lbw with an inswinging delivery. West Indies were down 2 wickets before they had even inched into the double digits. Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels then began to counterattack in a style that had helped them draw the previous Test, and it worked for a while. But, Ishant Sharma then clean bowled Marlon Samuels reflecting his captain's intent to win the match, and West Indies went into lunch with the scorecard reading 53/3.
The second half of the day did not last long though for the hosts. Ishant Sharma took his second straight wicket removing last-match hero, Roston Chase, for 10, and the challenge was effectively over. Darren Bravo held one with his counter-attack, but wickets were tumbling at the other. He reached his 50 with West Indies at 86, but Dowrich, who had played a pivotal role in the last match, also fell immediately to a lovely outswinger from Mohammad Shami. Bravo finally departed for 59, and the Indian spinner wrapped up the other two wickets in double time to close out the Windies' fourth innings at 108. Mohammad Shami ended up with 3 wickets, while Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja picked two apiece.
India had won by a margin of 238 to go 2-0 up in the four-match series with only one Test remaining. The match had, at one point, looked headed for a draw, but Bhuvi's exploits on day 4 and Ajinkya Rahane's knock had helped India pull off a comfortable win in the end.
