Sports India

Jerome Taylor recorded his first five-wicket haul in Tests as the Indian first innings folded up for 200 runs at stumps on day one of the fourth and final Test against West Indies at Kingston on Friday.

India’s decision to bat first backfired with the Indian top order giving an extremely inept batting display as the West Indies bowlers impressed with some blistering spells.

The visitors got off to a disastrous start losing both their openers for just three runs on the board.

Virender Sehwag was the first to go, caught brilliantly by Ramnaresh Sarwan at short leg for a duck.

Sehwag tried to turn a ball on his pads from Pedro Collins only to find the ball in the hands of Sarwan.

Wasim Jaffer also did not last long. He made one run before he was bowled by Taylor and India were three for two.

In between, Sarwan had to be taken off the field after he was hit on the knee from a Jaffer shot.

Indian captain Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman then came together to stem the rot. However, runs were not easy to come by and at lunch the visitors were 29 for two.

Laxman was dismissed immediately after the break. He was caught by Runako Morton at gully off a Dwayne Bravo delivery for 18.

Yuvraj Singh’s poor run of form in the series continued. He was trapped leg before for 19 runs by Jerome Taylor.

Twenty runs later, Mohammad Kaif followed him to the pavilion.

He played awkwardly at a short delivery from Taylor that kissed his glove and went straight to Brian Lara at second slip. Kaif made 13 and was Taylor’s third victim.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni also could not forge a partnership with skipper Dravid.

The wicketkeeper-batsman made just three runs before being caught by Dwayne Bravo at slip to give Corey Collymore his first wicket of the match.

Anil Kumble, in keeping with his recent good run with the bat, gave good support to his skipper and added 93 runs for the seventh wicket that gave some respectability to the Indian scorecard.

He played on a Bravo delivery onto his stumps for a well-compiled 45 from 101 balls.

Dravid, who played a resolute captain’s knock at the other end, finally fell to Collymore. He was caught behind by Denesh Ramdin. Dravid made 81 runs from 215 balls and hit 10 boundaries.

Taylor bowled S Sreesanth for a duck. The local lad then picked up the wicket of Munaf Patel, also for naught, when he had him caught behind by Ramdin to finish with figures of five for 50.

The teams:

India: Rahul Dravid, Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, S Sreesanth.

West Indies: Brian Lara, Darren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin, Dwayne Bravo, Pedro Collins, Jerome Taylor, Corey Collymore.

Jerome Taylor recorded his first five-wicket haul in Tests as the Indian first innings folded up for 200 runs at stumps on day one of the fourth and final Test against West Indies at Kingston on Friday.

India’s decision to bat first backfired with the Indian top order giving an extremely inept batting display as the West Indies bowlers impressed with some blistering spells.

The visitors got off to a disastrous start losing both their openers for just three runs on the board.

Virender Sehwag was the first to go, caught brilliantly by Ramnaresh Sarwan at short leg for a duck.

Sehwag tried to turn a ball on his pads from Pedro Collins only to find the ball in the hands of Sarwan.

Wasim Jaffer also did not last long. He made one run before he was bowled by Taylor and India were three for two.

In between, Sarwan had to be taken off the field after he was hit on the knee from a Jaffer shot.

Indian captain Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman then came together to stem the rot. However, runs were not easy to come by and at lunch the visitors were 29 for two.

Laxman was dismissed immediately after the break. He was caught by Runako Morton at gully off a Dwayne Bravo delivery for 18.

Yuvraj Singh’s poor run of form in the series continued. He was trapped leg before for 19 runs by Jerome Taylor.

Twenty runs later, Mohammad Kaif followed him to the pavilion.

He played awkwardly at a short delivery from Taylor that kissed his glove and went straight to Brian Lara at second slip. Kaif made 13 and was Taylor’s third victim.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni also could not forge a partnership with skipper Dravid.

The wicketkeeper-batsman made just three runs before being caught by Dwayne Bravo at slip to give Corey Collymore his first wicket of the match.

Anil Kumble, in keeping with his recent good run with the bat, gave good support to his skipper and added 93 runs for the seventh wicket that gave some respectability to the Indian scorecard.

He played on a Bravo delivery onto his stumps for a well-compiled 45 from 101 balls.

Dravid, who played a resolute captain’s knock at the other end, finally fell to Collymore. He was caught behind by Denesh Ramdin. Dravid made 81 runs from 215 balls and hit 10 boundaries.

Taylor bowled S Sreesanth for a duck. The local lad then picked up the wicket of Munaf Patel, also for naught, when he had him caught behind by Ramdin to finish with figures of five for 50.