KOLKATA, Nov 6 � Mohammed Shami produced a devastating spell of reverse swing bowling on day one of the first Test against West Indies as India started Sachin Tendulkar�s farewell series by dominating the opposition right from the start.
Shami returned with impressive figures of 4/71 in 18 overs as India bowled out the visitors for a paltry 234 after they opted to bat at the Eden Gardens here today. At stumps, India were comfortable placed at 37 for no loss with the two openers, Shikhar Dhawan (21) and Murali Vijay (16), at the crease. At the end of first day�s play, India trailed the West Indies by 197 runs with all their wickets intact.
Sachin considers Eden Garden his second home and playing at the venue has always been special for him. His penultimate match was made more special when skipper MS Dhoni decided to give the ball to him just before tea. And it took only four balls for the genius to give the pulsating crowd a big reason to cheer. Sachin�s leg break went straight, trapping Shane Shillingford plum in front of the wicket. Sachin bowled two overs and picked up wicket number 201 of his international bowling career (46th in Tests). The Eden crowd was right behind the little champion cheering each ball that Sachin fielded.
Mohammad Shami could not have asked for a better debut. At a time when all eyes were on the master blaster, the Bengal quickie stole the show on the opening day. With Bhubaneswar Kumar picking up Chris Gayle (18 runs of 32balls ) with only 30 on the board, Dhoni changed ends for Shami bringing him from the High Court end and he did not disappoint his skipper. His first bouncer of the day outside off stump encouraged Keron Powell for a pull shot but only managed to find Bhubaneswar Kumar at mid-off giving Shami his maiden Test wicket.
Even though the Windies had an edgy start, Marlon Samuels made batting look extremely easy. He along with Darren Bravo began to consolidate the West Indian innings and kept the scoreboard ticking. Watchful to begin with, Samuels took the attack to the Indian bowlers and in the process reached his 19th Test fifty with eight 4s and two 6s. But his stay on the crease was curtailed courtesy a pacy incoming delivery from Shami which cut back at Samuels and rattled his middle stump. Samuels made 65 runs of 98 balls with three fours to his name. Shami picked West Indies wicket-keeper Dinesh Ramdin in a similar fashion soon after.
Shami was in the thick of actions as he produced a brilliant run out to dismiss Darren Bravo who was trying to steal a single. With his tail up Shami bowled in the mid 130 kmph. He wrapped up the Caribbean innings picking Sheldon Cotterell for a duck.
Ravichandran Ashwin also joined the party with two vital wickets. First, he dismissed Veerasammy Peramaul and then removed the bails of Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Chanderpaul did his best to rebuild the innings but failed to judge Ashwin�s ball that pitched outside his off stump and hurried on to clip the bails.
In the fading moments of day one, Shikhar Dhawan (21 runs from 20 balls) continued his good run with the bat. He opened his account guiding a Tino Best ball towards the third man boundary. Murali Vijay (14 runs from 33 balls) too looked in good nick rotating the strike.
SCORECARD
West Indies 1st innings: Chris Gayle c Vijay b Kumar 18, Kieran Powell c Kumar b Shami 28, Darren Bravo run out 23, Marlon Samuels b Shami 65, Shivnarine Chanderpaul b Ashwin 36, Denesh Ramdin b Mohammed Shami 4, Darren Sammy c Kumar b Ojha 16, Shane Shillingford lbw b Tendulkar 5, Veerasammy Permaul c & b Ashwin 14, Tino Best not out 14, Sheldon Cottrell b Mohammed Shami 0. Extras: (b 4, lb 7) 11. Total: (all out in 78 overs) 234. Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-47, 3-138, 4-138, 5-143, 6-172, 7-192, 8-211, 9-233, 10-234. Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 14-6-33-1, Mohammed Shami 17-2-71-4, R Ashwin 21-9-52-2, Pragyan Ojha 24-6-62-1, Sachin Tendulkar 2-1-5-1.
India 1st innings: Shikhar Dhawan batting 21, Murali Vijay batting 16. Total: (For no loss in 12overs) 37. Bowling: Tino Best 2-0-15-0, Sheldon Cottrell 5-2-13-0, Shane Shillingford 4-2-8-0, Veerasammy Permaul 1-0-1-0.
