The Windies batsmen failed to put up a semblance of fight in their second innings on Day 3, getting bowled out for 127, and setting India a victory target of a mere 72 runs
Hyderabad: India cantered to a 10-wicket win over West Indies in the second and final Test of the series at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday. India's ruthless performance saw them register a clean 2-0 sweep of the Test series.
The Windies batsmen failed to put up a semblance of fight in their second innings on Day 3, getting bowled out for 127, and setting India a victory target of a mere 72 runs. The Indian opening pair of KL Rahul and Prithvi Shaw took India to victory without breaking a sweat.
Earlier, Windies captain Jason Holder dragged his team back into the match with a fifer, but Umesh Yadav singed the Windies with his pace and control, claiming four wickets for 45 to go with his 6/88 in the first innings. This was Umesh's maiden 10-wicket haul.
Umesh was adjudged the Man of the Match for his efforts, while 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw, who scored a hundred on debut in the previous match, at Rajkot, bagged the Man of the Series award. Here are some of the ways people reacted on Twitter to Umesh Yadav's performance and India's big win
Prithvi Shaw (18 years and 339 days) is second youngest in Test history to hit the winning runs. Youngest: Pat Cummins (18 years and 197 days) vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 2011.
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad)Clinical performance by to win this Test Series. Congratulations on another fine effort in the 2nd innings to bag your 10 wicket haul. pic.twitter.com/WmQWHt5pHn
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt)Never mind the quality of opposing batsmen, the quality of his bowling - fast, controlled and spiced with late swing — would have caused serious damage even to a better line up. Well done !
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah)Another crushing win for India. To start favourites is one thing, to treat the opposition like that quite another. Delighted for Umesh Yadav.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha)Prithvi Shaw (18 years and 339 days) is second youngest in Test history to hit the winning runs. Youngest: Pat Cummins (18 years and 197 days) vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 2011.
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad)Prithvi Shaw (18 years and 339 days) is second youngest in Test history to hit the winning runs. Youngest: Pat Cummins (18 years and 197 days) vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 2011.
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad)Prithvi Shaw (18 years and 339 days) is second youngest in Test history to hit the winning runs. Youngest: Pat Cummins (18 years and 197 days) vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 2011.
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad)Umesh Yadav is first India fast bowler to take 10 wickets in a home Test in nearly two decades (since Javagal Srinath vs Pak, Kolkata, 1999).
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad)However, while any Test series victory is welcome, it hardly was an ideal preparation for the big away-series against Australia, starting on December 4 in Adelaide.
The Windies were back to their worst despite showing signs of fight in the first innings as they couldn't last two full sessions and were bowled out in only 46.1 in their second innings.
Out of the four innings in this series, the Windies couldn't cross the 200-run mark thrice which was a testimony to their plight during the series. For India, it was their 10th series win at home since their last defeat against England way back in 2012.
Virat Kohli's side did an encore of 2013 series which India won by an identical margin in that year's most lopsided contest with Sachin Tendulkar's farewell taking limelight. The second innings started with Umesh on split hat-trick but Kraigg Brathwaite (0) survived one delivery before gliding one into Rishabh Pant's gloves.
Kieran Powell edged one off Ravichandran Ashwin to Ajinkya Rahane in the slips. Shai Hope (28) hit three delightful boundaries off Umesh while Shimron Hetmeyer (17) was trying to be more assertive against the spinners in their 39-run stand.
However, a rush of blood saw Hetmeyer give Kuldeep Yadav the charge only to be caught by Cheteshwar Pujara at point. From 45/3, there was not much resistance as Hope was snapped when he played a Ravindra Jadeja delivery for the turn to give Rahane his second catch. Windies' biggest hope Roston Chase (6) got a sharp inswinger while Shane Dowrich (0) played on with Umesh getting his ninth wicket of the match.
The wicket had its share of wear and tear but it wasn't a difficult track where surviving would be an arduous task. Yet, it was another instance of lack of application from the Windies batsmen with opener Brathwaite and young Hetmeyer playing atrocious shots.
Holder (19) and Sunil Ambris (38) added 38 runs for the seventh wicket but once Holder edged one to Pant off Jadeja, any chances of match going to the fourth day slowly disappeared.
However, the Windies had started off well by dismissing India for 367, keeping the first innings lead down to a mere 56 runs. In the process, they denied Pant (92) and Rahane (80) their hundreds. In a space of 16.1 overs, India lost five wickets for 25 runs to move from a comfortable 314/4 to 339/9 before Ashwin (35, 83 balls) made a useful contribution.
Holder (5/56 in 23 overs) used the second new ball to good effect as he completed his fifth five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Shannon Gabriel, after an erratic performance, on Saturday came back well to take 3/107 in 20.4 overs. Holder first got one to rear up from back of a length to shatter Rahane's dreams of a 10th Test hundred. The Indian vice-captain was caught at gully for 80 off 183 balls to give the opposition captain his third wicket. His innings had seven boundaries.
The Rahane-Pant duo added 152 runs for the fifth wicket and once the visitors got the breakthrough, the floodgates were open. Pant (92), who added seven more runs to his overnight score, got a short ball from Gabriel, which he pushed at, only to be caught by Hetmeyer at cover-point. In two consecutive Tests, Pant has been dismissed for identical scores of 92. This time he played 134 balls, hitting 11 boundaries and two sixes.
For the record, during the Windies' second innings, the new SG Test ball had to be changed twice inside 12 overs.
On Saturday, Mohammed Siraj and Hanuma Vihari were released to play Vijay Hazare quaryer-finals for their respective teams Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh. Manish Pandey and Shubman Gill were brought into the side as substitutes. With PTI inputs
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