Ind vs WI: Marlon Samuels steadies the ship for West Indies in first Test against India....... NEW DELHI: Marlon Samuels reached his 19th Test half-century in the second over after lunch on the first day of the first Test against India at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday. Scorecard Samuels had hit his maiden Test hundred at the Eden Gardens in 2002. After two early jolts, Bravo and Samuels steered the West Indies first innings to 107/2 at lunch. Mohammed Shami took his first Test wicket when he had opener Kieran Powell caught by Bhuvneshwar Kumar at mid-off. Shami bowled a well-directed bouncer and Powell wanted to pull it but only managed to scoop it up in the air and Kumar ran back from mid-off to take a well-judged catch. Powell hit a six and five fours in his 28-run knock. Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave India an early breakthrough when he had opener Chris Gayle caught by Murali Vijay at second slip. Without moving his feet and staying rooted to the crease, Gayle (18) poked at a dlivery away from his body that ended his tentative stay at the crease. The breakthrough came after West Indies captain Darren Sammy won the toss and chose to bat. Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami make their Test debuts for India. Kemar Roach isnt fit yet and Sheldon Cotterrell will make his Test debut for the West Indies. After losing the toss, MS Dhoni calmly said that the Sachin Tendulkar-factor isnt much of a distraction yet, possibly will be during his 200th Test in Mumbai. Says that it is quite demanding to change from ODI plans to Test plans within the space of a few days. After winning the toss, Darren Sammy said that its tricky to assess how the surface will play but all the guys are ready. There are a few cracks on the surface but the dominance of black soil is clearly evident on the surface. The surface could start assisting spinners to a great extent from Day 3 onwards and batsmens skills could be tested to the limits. Teams: India: MS Dhoni (Capt.), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Pragyan Ojha. West Indies: Darren Sammy (Capt.), Chris Gayle, Kieran Powell, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Denesh Ramdin, Shane Shillingford, Veerasammy Permaul, Sheldon Cotterrell, Tino Best.TOI
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 06:54:21 +0000
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