Yadav blows Windies away
OUTPLAYED: WEST INDIES BEATEN INSIDE THREE DAYS
Hyderabad
Paceman Umesh Yadav claimed a match haul of 10 wickets to lead India to a series sweep against the West Indies with a win inside three days in the second Test yesterday.
The hosts chased down their 72-run target in just 16.1 overs in an extended final session to win by 10 wickets.
Prithvi Shaw and Lokesh Rahul, both on 33, were unbeaten.
The 18-year-old Shaw hit the winning boundary as the hosts registered their 10th successive series triumph on home soil.
India have not lost a Test series at home since 2012, when they went down 2-1 to England.
Yadav, who returned overall match figures of 10/133 – his maiden 10-wicket haul in 40 Tests – taking four wickets in the West Indies’ second innings.
“Not many people realise but he is a very, very talented bowler. He can bowl you unplayable deliveries every now and then,” skipper Virat Kohli said.
Sunil Ambris top-scored with 38, offering some resistance with skipper Jason Holder for the seventh-wicket, but the tourists were bowled out for just 127 in the final session.
Ravindra Jadeja got Holder caught behind for 19 and then trapping Ambris lbw.
Yadav had rattled the top order earlier, sending back opener Kraigg Braithwaite on the second delivery of the innings.
Shai Hope then scored a gritty 28 before falling to Jadeja’s guile.
There was promise for the West Indies at one stage in the match, after they bowled out India for 367 and limited the hosts’ first-innings lead to 56.
Holder returned figures of 5/56 with his pace bowling in the first innings.
Rishabh Pant’s 152-run fifth-wicket stand with Ajinkya Rahane, who made 80, was the highlight of India’s first innings. Pant scored 92.
West Indies batsman Roston Chase top-scored with 106 after the visitors batted first. He was bowled by Yadav, who returned career-best figures of 6/88.
Meanwhile Yadav’s pace partner Shardul Thakur had a forgettable debut after limping off the field in just his second over early on day one with a groin strain.
He could not bowl and field after that and only came in to bat at No 11, putting on a crucial 28-run ast-wicket stand with Ravichandran Ashwin. –