IND vs WI: Jaiswal at 173*, on cusp of double ton

On Friday, October 10, the Indian cricket team dominated West Indies with the bat on the first day of the second and final Test of the two-match series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Opener Yashasvi

Jaiswal scored the seventh Test hundred of his young career and went past 3,000 runs in international cricket, to put India in a very strong position, reaching 318/2 at stumps on day one in their first innings after batting 90 overs.

Earlier in the morning, Shubman Gill, the captain of India, won the toss and decided to bat first on what promised to be a very good pitch for the first half of the Test match in Delhi. Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul batted brilliantly to negotiate a relatively tricky first hour of the contest before sharing yet another 50-plus partnership at the top of the order in Indian colours.

But, against the run of play, KL Rahul succumbed to a brilliant piece of bowling from Jomel Warrican, who got him  him stumped via Tevin Imlach for 38 off 54, an innings which had five fours and a six. With his opening partner going back to the pavilion at 58/1, Yashasvi Jaiswal took control of the Indian innings and began building a partnership alongside fellow left hander Sai Sudharsan for the second wicket.

After needing 82 balls to go past his fifty in the second session of day one, Jaiswal put the foot on the accelerator, to reach his seventh Test hundred in 145 balls, looking ominous to score many more runs against an often lethargic West Indies bowling attack. On the other end, Sudharsan also scored the second fifty of his young Test career in 87 balls before India reached 220/1 in 58 overs at the tea time break.

At the start of the third session, Jomel Warrican broke the 193-run stand for the second wicket, getting one to turn into Sai Sudharsan from the rough, who was beaten all ends up before the umpire gave him his marching orders lbw. Sudharshan managed to put together an impressive innings of 87 off 165 with 12 fours, playing a key role in possibly setting up a big first innings total for India.

Following that, Indian captain Shubman Gill walked out to bat, and he continued the momentum for the team, sharing an unbeaten stand of 67 runs for the third wicket with Yashasvi Jaiswal, to end the first day’s play. At stumps, Jaiswal had reached 173 off 253 with 22 fours to his name, eyeing the third double hundred of his Test career while Gill played within himself to get up to 20 off 68 with three fours.