West Indies v India - First Test

Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica

West Indies: CG Greenidge, DL Haynes, GA Headley, IVA Richards, FMM Worrell, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MD Marshall, J Garner, LR Gibbs, CA Walsh.
India: SM Gavaskar, +FM Engineer, VL Manjrekar, VS Hazare, PR Umrigar, *MAK Pataudi, Kapil Dev, M Prabhakar, KD Ghavri, EAS Prasanna, BKV Prasad.

Debuts: BKV Prasad (IND)
Umpires: RS Dunne (NZL) & BC Cooray (SL)
Toss: West Indies

India's dressing room looked more like a casualty ward in the build up to the first Test with Vengsarkar, Chandrasekhar, Bedi and Srinath all unavailable for selection, and it was a triumph of sorts for the tourists just to get eleven players on the field. However, India's seamers soon provided some respite as the ball swung on a rain-hit first morning, and after West Indies had won the toss and elected to bat on a flat, unblemished surface they soon found themselves reeling at 60-4 with both Headley and Richards departing for inglorious ducks. Worrell and Dujon fought back gamely with a brace of fifties, but Prasanna's marathon spell enabled Pataudi to maintain control, and with Dujon ninth out for a fighting 92 on his home ground a final total of 269 was a poor return given the batting surface.

Dujon's 92 helped save West Indies from
complete humiliation on the first day

Gavaskar and Engineer then put on 65 for India's first wicket, but with the spin of Sobers and Gibbs playing an unexpectedly prominent role, the tourists slumped to 92-4 by tea on day two. Manjrekar and Pataudi countered the threat by sweeping on sight, and the pair extended their gutsy partnership to 159 before Manjrekar was out hooking at Garner on the third morning just seven short of his century. Pataudi, playing a crucial innings for both himself and the team, managed to grind on to his third ATG hundred - the other two also came against West Indies - and when he finally edged Walsh behind for 126, Kapil Dev took over.

Kapil accumulated a sedate fifty off 107 balls, but following Pataudi's dismissal at 339-6 he scored at a run a ball as the tail all hung around for long enough to allow him to raise a wonderful hundred. West Indies did not field well - Pataudi was dropped on 63 and Dujon missed three possible stumping chances - and with the umpires most certainly favouring the batsmen Sobers led a disgruntled and frustrated team off the pitch when Kapil Dev was last man out for 123 early on the fourth morning. India's total of 456 had given them a lead of 183, but on a wicket that was still playing evenly, the hosts would have been looking to improve on their poor first innings performance with the hope of perhaps being able to put some pressure on the Indian batsmen on the final day.

Contrasting centuries from Pataudi and Kapil Dev
gave India a sizeable first innings advantage

However, West Indies were skittled for just 221 in what was quite frankly an embarrassing attempt at batting to save a Test match, and the Sabina Park faithful made their feelings increasingly clear as the day wore on. Fellow Jamaican George Headley played the only innings of substance, but with his score on 72 he became one of five victims for Prasanna when he clipped a simple catch to Hazare at midwicket, and whereas Manjrekar and Pataudi had played the spinners with aplomb in India's innings, the West Indian batsmen simply could not handle Prasanna. Haynes, Sobers and Dujon all perished to injudicious sweeps, and when last man Walsh holed out to Prasad - who had bowled very well on debut - India were left with a target of just 35 to complete a famous victory.

Gavaskar nearly took India home in the four overs that were possible on what was left of the fourth evening, but frustratingly everyone had to come back on the final morning in order for India to knock off the five remaining runs, everyone that is except the crowd, who stayed away en masse in protest at their team's shocking performance. India's nine wicket victory, one of the greatest shocks in ATG history, was consequently completed in front of empty stands, but Pataudi and his team did not care one jot. The batting frailties that were on show in New Zealand remain a huge problem for the West Indies, and despite their number one status they will now have to look very closely at themselves before the sides reconvene in Trinidad for what could be an explosive second Test.

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 269 (Dujon 92, Worrell 73; Prasanna 4-60)
IND 1st Inns 456 (Pataudi 126, Kapil Dev 123, Manjrekar 93)
WI 2nd Inns 221 (Headley 72; Prasanna 5-51)
IND 2nd Inns 35-1

INDIA WON BY 9 WICKETS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 246-8 (Dujon 78*, Gibbs 0*; 79.4 ov)
Day 2 - India 1st innings 192-4 (Manjrekar 60*, Pataudi 57*; 76 ov)
Day 3 - India 1st innings 452-9 (Kapil Dev 122*, Prasad 4*; 160 ov)
Day 4 - India 2nd innings 30-1 (Engineer 6*, Manjrekar 0*; 4 ov)
Day 5 - India 2nd innings 35-1 (7.5 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Pataudi passed 1000 career runs
▪ Prasanna passed 100 career wickets
▪ Manjrekar and Pataudi's partnership of 159 is India's highest for the fifth wicket against West Indies
▪ Hazare made his 50th appearance for India

Man of the Match: EAS Prasanna