OTD 1971: India First Test Win vs West Indies 1971 Came After 25 Attempts

India had been frequently battered and bruised during their encounters with the West Indies since they started playing international cricket. However, they finally got the better of the Caribbean side in the 25th attempt. This was the second Test in a five-match series, held at Port of Spain in Trinidad.

The first Test was played in Kingston and it ended in a draw. However, India gave a great account of themselves in the series opener and made it clear that they were not going to go down without a fight.

In the second Test, the West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first at the Queen’s Park Oval. The Indian spinners dominated proceedings as Erapalli Prasanna took four wickets, while Bishan Singh Bedi chipped in with a three-for. For the home side, Charlie Davis was the top-scorer, as he aggregated an unbeaten 71. They were eventually bowled out for 214 in 72.5 overs.

In reply, India got off to a solid start as Ashok Mankad and Sunil Gavaskar stitched a 68-run stand for the first wicket. After Mankad was dismissed for 44, Salim Durani could not make much of an impact as he departed for nine.

Gavaskar and Dilip Sardesai joined forces and stitched a 96-run stand to put India in a solid position. The former eventually departed for 44. Indian captain Ajit Wadekar registered a golden duck as Jack Noreiga sent him packing. However, Sardesai went on to slam a brilliant century. He scored 112 runs, hitting 11 boundaries.
Eknath Solkar also played a fine knock of 55, showing excellent resilience. Syed Abid Ali also chipped in with a handy 20. The touring side was eventually bowled out for 352, taking a lead of 138 runs in the process.

In their second innings, the West Indies batted better as Roy Fredericks and Charlie Davis scored 80 and 74 not out, respectively. However, the team score only read 261.

India were set a target of 124 to chase down in the fourth innings. Mankad and Gavaskar once again got India off to a composed start. They added 74 runs before Mankad had to depart. Salim Durani registered a duck, while Dilip Sardesai only aggregated three runs as the tourists slumped to 84/3. However, Gavaskar teamed up with Syed Abid Ali to settle India’s nerves.

They took their team to victory in the 50th over, with seven wickets to spare. Gavaskar remained unbeaten on 67, while Abid Ali made 21*. India won the match by seven wickets to take a 1-0 lead with three matches remaining.

The last three Tests ended in draw as India took the series 1-0. Gavaskar was the highest run-getter (774 in eight innings) in the series, while S Venkataraghavan bagged the most wickets (22 in 10 innings).

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