India's famed batting line-up suffered a stunning collapse as an
inspired West Indies gained an edge by taking a vital 95-run
first-innings lead in the first Test on Monday.After restricting West Indies to 304 all out, riding on Pragyan Ojha's
career-best six for 72, the hosts' batting collapsed like a house of
cards to be bundled out for a paltry 209 on an unpredictable Feroz Shah
Kotla track on a day, which saw as many as 17 wickets fall.It was a combination of poor shot selection and some spirited bowling by
the West Indies that saw India's high-profile batting-order crumble,
though, many of them got the starts.Virender Sehwag (55), Rahul Dravid (54) and Gautam Gambhir (41) were the
notable scorers for the hosts who found it difficult to negotiate the
Kotla track, which offered variable bounce.Skipper Darren Sammy led the way with three for 35, while Ravi Rampaul
and Devendra Bishoo chipped in with two wickets apiece. The visitors
were 21 for two at close of an eventful second day's play, extending
their overall lead to 116.Kirk Edwards was batting on 15 while night-watchman Fidel Edwards was
yet to open his account as they managed to negotiate Pragyan Ojha and
Ravichandran Ashwin after India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni started
with spin from both ends.Kraigg Brathwaite and Kieran Powell were the two batsmen to be
dismissed. With three full days left, India will seek to dismiss West
Indies as quickly as possible to try and come back into the match.Earlier, Ojha's maiden five-for haul hastened the West Indies' slide
from an overnight 256 for six. But India undid much of Ojha's good work
in the first session.India's start was solid as openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir
put on 89 runs in 12.3 overs. Both negotiated an eventful 25 minutes as
India went to lunch at 39 for no loss in five overs.Gambhir survived a close lbw shout off Rampaul before Kirk Edwards
dropped the left-hander at third slip off Fidel Edwards. And then,
Sehwag escaped due to a no-ball by Edwards after the pacer breached
through the opener's defence.But lady luck smiled on the visitors when Sammy ran out Gambhir off his
own bowling in the 13th over of the innings. Gambhir's dismissal
triggered a collapse that saw India lose four wickets, including the one
of Sachin Tendulkar, who yet again missed out on an opportunity to
record his 100th international ton.Dravid along with Yuvraj Singh (23 off 39) steadied the ship for a while
by putting on 32 runs for the fifth wicket but the latter, seeking to
establish his Test career, was once again guilty of throwing away his
wicket when Sammy lured him with a ball that seemed to have stopped at
the batsman.Yuvraj committed himself to the shot a tad too early, and Kirk Edwards
did the rest at extra covers. The breakthrough West Indies were looking
for came right after the tea break.Wickets of Dhoni and Ravichandran Ashwin only made matters worse for
India. Ishant Sharma (17) tried to offer resistance during his
eight-wicket 49-run stand with Dravid, but that did not prove to be
enough. The session prior to tea too belonged to the West Indies.Apart from Tendulkar and Gambhir, they also sent back VVS Laxman and
Sehwag. First up was Gambhir. Sammy got a finger to Sehwag's booming
straight drive and the ball went on to hit the stumps on the runner's
end, catching the southpaw well short of the crease.If luck played a part in Gambhir's dismissal, Sehwag's wicket was
bizarre. The batsman's right foot was in the air while he tried to work
the ball around his hip off leg-spinner Bishoo, and wicketkeeper Carlton
Baugh clipped the bails off in no time.Baugh was in fact on fire today, effecting four dismissals. That brought
Tendulkar to crease, but the Kotla was stunned into silence in a matter
of 25 minutes as the champion batsman made his way back to the dressing
room after being rapped on the pads by a Fidel Edwards delivery.Credit must go to Sammy, who brought back his most lethal bowler after
Tendulkar's arrival. Edwards looked hostile during that spell and
returned with measly figures of five for one in as many quick overs.Tendulkar was followed by Laxman who was caught behind off Bishoo who was in the middle of a good spell at that point of time.Bishoo, however, got some stick from Yuvraj who smashed him straight
down the ground for a six, and then followed that with two more
boundaries.Earlier, continuing from where he had left on Sunday, Ojha picked up two
wickets to his add to his overnight three and helped his team open the
floodgates.While Ojha's effort was the primary reason behind the Wet Indies' slide,
Ravichandran Ashwin played his part by chipping in with one to finish
with figures of three for 81 in 27 overs, creditable enough for a
debutant.Toiling hard on a track bereft of any movement or bounce, pace spearhead
Ishant Sharma was rewarded when he found centurion Shivnarine
Chanderpaul (118 off 196 balls; 7x4, 2x6) off guard with a sharp
incoming delivery.There were some doubts over the decision by made Kumar Dharmasena, but
TV replays showed that the ball would have gone on to the hit middle and
leg.Umesh Yadav, another Indian playing in his first Test, though was a
letdown, often straying down the leg. After Chanderpaul's dismissal,
however, it was a matter of time before the West Indies innings folded
up in 108.2 overs.Of his team's 442 minutes of batting, the Guyanese consumed 286 of them
while facing 196 deliveries. Between the two, the new spin-twins of Ojha
and Ashwin finished with figures of nine for 153.Introduced in the 99th over in place of Yadav, Ojha struck immediately
removing overnight batsman Carlton Baugh with a ball that didn't turn as
much as he had expected it to.Baugh's dismissal ended a 69-run partnership for the sixth wicket with
Chanderpaul. After Ojha had Baugh trapped in front, the bowler did a
repeat to send back West Indies skipper Darren Sammy with an arm ball
that pitched around the middle stump for his maiden five-for in Test
cricket.Making his debut against Sri Lanka in 2009, his previous best was four for 107
