Images from Day 1 of the first Test between India and the West Indies, in Ahmedabad, on Thursday.
Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah combined to decimate West Indies for a paltry 162 before the in-form KL Rahul struck a measured half century as India expectedly dominated the opening day of the first Test in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
At stumps, the hosts reached 121/2 with another 41 runs in arrears. Siraj (4/40) and Bumrah (3/32) were the architects of India's dominating show on a day when rain caused a brief disruption to the proceedings.
Rahul, who struck the first fifty of the series, was batting on 53 off 114 balls with six fours accompanied by India captain Shubman Gill on 18 (42 balls, 1x4s).
India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal (36) after his 68-run opening stand with Rahul and B Sai Sudharsan (7) fell soon after, but the hosts largely remained unchallenged on the opening day of this two-Test affair.
For someone who has almost every shot in his arsenal, Jaiswal took a patient approach to the innings hitting his first boundary after facing 37 deliveries. But he turned on the heat smacking six more over the next 16 balls before he fell.
Once he broke free, Jaiswal dealt only in boundaries on both sides of the wicket and from a sedate start of 4 off 36 balls, he raced to 36 off 54 balls hitting seven fours overall.
But paying the price of playing one shot too many, Jaiswal cut one close to his body which resulted in an outside edge going to Shai Hope behind the wickets off Jayden Seales.
If Jaiswal failed to convert his start, No.3 Sudharsan (7) could not even spend enough time to give himself a chance.
Unscathed from a mix-up between the wickets with Rahul after he failed to respond to a second run while being inattentive to his partner in the 24th over, Sudharsan fell to West Indies skipper Roston Chase in the next.
Sudharsan went for a pull shot against the off-spinner while misjudging the length of the ball, which pitched in line of the stumps and hit him on the back leg.
Sudharsan was bent awkwardly playing the shot when he missed the connection completely, and walked off without contemplating a review.
Rahul, on the other hand, came out on top after some initial struggles with the new ball.
With plenty of time in hand and India not in a hurry to impose the inevitable, he paced his innings to hold one end strongly.
The surface seemed more responsive to the new ball as West Indies pacer Jayden Seales troubled the Indian openers, beating the outside edge and even the batters' trust on the bounce, which he generated a tad more.
But from the other end, debutant Johann Layne took his time settling in as some of his initial deliveries were sprayed down the leg side.
Earlier, 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.
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.
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