Jasprit Bumrah became only the third Indian to collect a Test hat-trick, while Hanuma Vihari and Ishant Sharma posted personal bests with the bat to give India a massive advantage against West Indies in the second Test at Kingston.
After Vihari scored his first Test ton and Ishant hit his maiden Test fifty to lift India to 416 in the afternoon, Bumrah tore through the West Indies batting to rip out six of the seven wickets that fell in the session, including a hat-trick that sent back Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks and Roston Chase.
Bumrah could’ve caused more damage had he not left the field due to a cramp. But by then, he had reduced West Indies to 22 for 5. At stumps, West Indies had lost two more wickets, and still needed 130 more to avoid the follow-on.
Opener John Campbell was the first to fall to Bumrah. He was on 2, struggling with the pacer’s full deliveries when he bowled one shorter, trapping Campbell on the back foot. The seam movement that Bumrah was getting all afternoon nipped the edge of Campbell’s bat, and went to second slip.
Bumrah’s fourth over was the one that entered the record books. The first delivery to Darren Bravo swung too much, but Bumrah made amends next ball. He aimed the next delivery on middle stump, and the away movement caught Bravo’s outside edge, pocketed by second slip. Shamarh Brooks walked in next, and Bumrah got this one to swing into the right-hander, hitting him on the back pad. Brooks reviewed but that was in vain, the ball was hitting leg stump.
Then came the hat-trick delivery, and Roston Chase was welcomed with three slips, two gullys, a short leg and two catchers behind square. Bumrah went for his trusted full delivery, swinging into Chase, and rapped him on the front toe. The lbw appeal was turned down, but Virat Kohli, standing at second slip, backed his judgement and went for the review, which showed three reds and confirmed a hat-trick for Bumrah.
Bumrah thus joined Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan among Indians with Test hat-tricks. He then made it back to back five-wicket hauls when Kraigg Brathwaite edged a full delivery behind.
A brief resurrection followed with Jason Holder and Shimron Hetmyer adding 45 runs for the sixth wicket, but then Mohammad Shami ended the possibility of Bumrah joining the ranks of Anil Kumble or Jim Laker, by having Hetmyer bowled through the gate. Bumrah returned in his last spell of the day and got Holder off his first ball, with the West Indies captain skying a wide delivery. At the end of the day, Bumrah’s figures read 9.1-3-16-6.
Earlier, Vihari made 111 before being the last batsman dismissed with the score reading 416. The Vihari-Ishant partnership yielded 112 runs for the eight wicket, and dominated a majority of the post-lunch session, frustrating West Indies after they had had a reasonably successful morning.
Holder had sent back Rishabh Pant off the day’s first ball, but Vihari and Jadeja steadied the innings with a patient stand. Jadeja fell as India went to lunch at 302 for 7, but then Vihari and Ishant came together.
Vihari, who started the day on 42, battled through a difficult period after lunch, scoring two runs in the session’s first nine overs but found his strokes even as Ishant settled in. He drove Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach, offering the straight bat to collect a few boundaries, despite playing and missing earlier on.
Vihari reached his hundred by taking a sharp single halfway through the session, and Ishant reached his fifty three overs later. Ishant grew in confidence as the innings progressed, offering free flowing drives to the pacers and to debutant offspinner Rahkeem Cornwall. He used his feet smartly through the innings, either walking across the line to glance fine, or taking a big stride to drive through the off side.
When Ishant reached his fifty, the applause from the Indian dressing room was even more animated than the one that had greeted Vihari on reaching his first Test ton two overs earlier. Vihari reached the landmark in the 133rd over, pinching a risky single and then punching the air in delight. Ishant’s sweep to reach his fifty also brought up their hundred stand. Kohli, in particular, looked elated.
The duo did have their nervous moments, particularly with their running between the wickets, but West Indies couldn’t hit the stumps direct and both batsmen continued to prosper. They even took India past 400, a total that might have seemed difficult to achieve when Pant had fallen to the first ball of the day.
At 414, Ishant holed out to part-timer Brathwaite and thereafter India’s innings came to a swift close four runs later. The Vihari-Ishant stand had already put West Indies on the back foot at tea, but with seven wickets falling in the final session, they had been pushed irrevocably back. (ESPNCricinfo)
