India pulled off their biggest win in Test cricket, as they routed West Indies in one of the most ludicrous mismatches in recent times, with a comprehensive victory by an innings and 272 runs inside three days in the first Test in Rajkot on Saturday.
India dominated the game, amassing 649 for nine in their first innings before bowling out the West Indies twice on day three, to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
The visitors were bundled out for 181 in 48 overs before lunch and were expectedly forced to follow-on. They did not fare any better in the second innings, crumbling to 196 all out in 50.5 overs just after the tea interval.
While Ravichandran Ashwin (4/37) was the pick of the bowlers in the first innings, Kuldeep Yadav registered his maiden five-wicket haul, as he claimed five for 57 in the second innings to run through the West Indies batting line-up.
The second and final Test will be played in Hyderabad from October 12-16.
For India, the game will be best remembered for the emergence of 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw, who announced his arrival in international cricket with a classy hundred on debut, becoming the youngest from the country to do so in Tests. Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja were the other centurions in India's dominating show with the bat.
Opener Kieran Powell was the only West Indian batsmen to make a significant contribution in the second essay, an entertaining 83 off 93 balls with eight boundaries and four sixes.
Ashwin was their main tormentor in the morning session before it was Kuldeep's turn to steal the show in the second session. The opposition batsmen, who needed to bat for time, seemed to be in a hurry to finish the game as they went for far too many strokes and paid the price for their recklessness.
Kuldeep thrived on that, mixing it up nicely to fox the batsmen. After he trapped Shai Hope in front for his first wicket, he removed the highly-rated Shimron Hetmyer who went for a wild slog across the line to be caught at short thirdman. He used his googly to good effect to send back Sunil Ambris, who stepped out, and was stumped by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant for a duck.
In the morning session, Ashwin produced a brilliant spell as India enforced the follow-on.
The West Indies, resuming their first innings at 94 for six, lasted only an hour and 10 minutes, mainly due to efforts of Roston Chase (53) and Keemo Paul (47) who ended up sharing a 73-run stand.
Ashwin ran through the lower order quickly, ending with four for 37 in 11 overs as the West Indies failed to even last 50 overs.
India started with the spin-pace combination of Kuldeep and Mohammad Shami. Surprisingly, Chase and Paul had little difficulty in picking the chinaman, who bowled the first over the day. Paul went on the offensive straightaway, sweeping Kuldeep for two crisp boundaries.
Paul was the aggressor in the partnership but Chase also came up with a few attractive shots.
Paul was comfortable against Kuldeep but had issues dealing with the short ball. Umesh Yadav set the West Indian up nicely before getting rid of him with a perfectly placed bouncer as he mistimed a pull to be caught at square leg.
Ashwin removed Chase with a beauty, a flighted ball that turned in sharply and went through the gap between bat and pad before crashing into the stumps, leaving the West Indies at 159 for eight.
They suffered another batting collapse in the post-lunch session to succumb to another humiliating defeat in India. For the third Test in a row in India, West were beaten by an innings and had lost the game within three days.
