Kuldeep paves way for Windies follow-on with five-for; visitors 35 for 2 at tea

Kuldeep Yadav’s artistry was on full display as the wily wrist-spinner ran through West Indies line-up with a five-wicket haul, putting India on course of another huge innings victory on the third day of the second Test, here Sunday.

Being enforced follow-on, West Indies went into tea at 35 for two in their second innings, still 235 runs behind and have a task at hand to avoid another crushing defeat.

West Indies started the day at 140 for 4 in their first innings and just after the first half an hour, Kuldeep (5/82) produced a moment of magic to dismiss an already set Shai Hope (36).

Things fell part for the West Indies from thereon but their tail wagged enough to take them to a score of 248 in 81.5 overs.

Going for the jugular, head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill decided to enforce follow-on with a 270-run cushion.

By the tea-time, Mohammed Siraj on a placid pitch bowled a mean short ball aimed at Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who couldn’t control his pull-shot.

The resultant catch was taken by skipper Shubman Gill, diving full stretch. Alick Athanaze was removed by Washington Sundar with a classical off-break.

In the post lunch session, it was Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, who did their bit in cleaning up tail before Kuldeep came in to complete his fifth five-wicket haul in 15th Test match.

For someone who has always been dubbed as a condition based bowler, one five-for in every three games is a phenomenal record.

In the morning, Kuldeep produced a moment of magic to dismiss Shai Hope as the ineptness of the West Indies batting unit was once again laid bare, with the visitors staring down the barrel.

After Ravindra Jadeja got rid of the top-order on the second evening, it was Kuldeep who bowled a piece of beauty to dismiss Hope (36) and set the ball rolling for the hosts.

Kuldeep, who was initially bringing his bowling arm down from a wider angle, got one closer to his head and fired it slightly quicker. There was appreciable drift as Hope played inside the line and it beat his outside edge to peg back the off-stump.

Once Hope was gone, the hope of a revival was out of the window. Tevin Imlach (21) played a leg-break on the backfoot only to be adjudged leg-before through DRS.

Justin Greaves (17) was never going to survive playing those dangerous reverse sweeps bowled on the stumps. Mohammed Siraj then got into the act taking the wicket of Jomel Warrican, who played one on.

Hope and Imlach tried to carry out a rescue job when Bumrah did not exactly look menacing in the morning. In fact both Hope and Imlach negotiated Bumrah comfortably and even Kuldeep was hit for a few fours.

However once Kuldeep bowled that delivery to Hope, the floodgates opened. The following batters made a beeline towards the pavilion.

In a space of seven overs, West Indies lost four wickets and were reduced to 175 for 8.

Kharry Pierre (23) and Anderson Phillip (24) added 46 runs for the ninth wicket but that was never going to be enough for the visitors to avoid follow-on