Close India 31 for 0 (Sehwag 24*, Bangar 6*) trail West Indies 167 all out (Kumble 5-30) by 136 runs
Scorecard

Anil Kumble had plenty to celebrate on his 32nd birthday – his 20th five-for in Tests ensured that India took all the points on the opening day of the second Test at Chennai.

West Indies won the toss and went into lunch only one wicket down, but things went downhill rapidly thereafter. Carl Hooper brightened proceedings with a sparkling 35, but none of the other batsmen looked capable of overcoming the spinners on a spiteful pitch.

The BCCI's attempt to spruce up the pitches had met with little success at Mumbai, but the track at the Chidambaram Stadium was even more disappointing.

The seamers got little assistance in the morning –Parthiv Patel routinely collected deliveries from Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan around his bootlaces – while the spinners made the ball turn and jump alarmingly. In fact, Parthiv was forced to opt for a helmet in the last session of the day after being struck on the face by a Harbhajan Singh delivery which climbed off a length.

It was obvious that the spinners would rule the roost, but the seamers stuck to their task admirably in the morning, allowing just one run off the first seven overs. The early pressure ensured that when Harbhajan came on to bowl – in the 11th over of the innings – West Indies had only nine on the board.

Chris Gayle's patience finally ran out after he had laboured to 23, and his across-the-line heave off Harbhajan looped to Sachin Tendulkar at cover (40 for 1). Despite that loss, Hooper would have been satisfied with the lunch-time score of 45 for 1.

The slide started soon after the break. Wavell Hinds, who had stodged his way to 18, fell victim to a dubious lbw decision by umpire Asoka de Silva. Kumble's delivery pitched around off and appeared to be missing the stumps comfortably. And when Srinath's indipper cleaned up Ramnaresh Sarwan's middle-and-leg stumps for 19, West Indies had slumped to 62 for 3.

Then came the brightest part of the day for them. Hardly troubled by the spinners or the pitch, Hooper launched into some gorgeous shots, scoring consecutive fours off Sanjay Bangar and Virender Sehwag. With Shivnarine Chanderpaul defending with his usual solidity, it seemed India's nemesis pair would bail West Indies out again.

That was until Zaheer brought the slower ball out of the bag. Hooper checked his drive, but only managed to spoon a catch to Sourav Ganguly at cover (117 for 4). It took Hooper just 38 deliveries to score his runs, but it hardly enough to save the team.

Hooper's wicket was just the fillip India needed going into tea, and the spinners came back after the break all charged up. Kumble gave India the crucial wicket of Chanderpaul (27), caught behind off a brute of a delivery which reared after pitching (135 for 5). It was a sharp catch by Parthiv and brought him his first dismissal in three Tests. With the thorn out of the way, the spinners went for the kill.

Ryan Hinds was clueless to one that nipped back from Kumble and pinned him in front of the stumps for 16 (142 for 6). The top six had all crossed 15, but none had managed more than 40. With the recognized batsmen back in the hutch, the conditions were far too tough for the tail to resist. The last four wickets fell within six runs, giving the Indian openers eight overs to negotiate.

That they did with minimum fuss. Sehwag's clean strokeplay was again a treat – he laced five fours in his 24, and ensured that the crowd would have plenty to look forward to tomorrow.

S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com in India.

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