Close India 457 beat West Indies 157 and 188 (Gayle 42, Harbhajan 7-48, Kumble 3-50) and 157 by an innings and 112 runs
Scorecard

The Indian spinners ran through West Indies on the fourth day of the first Test, needing just a session-and-a-half to pick up the last nine wickets for 97 runs. Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble were an irresistible force, and while they encountered an immovable object in Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who remained unbeaten on 36, it wasn't enough to rescue West Indies. Chanderpaul was merely an irritant, not an impediment.

The Indian spinners, as has been the case for years now in home conditions, got good support from a deteriorating pitch, which belied the hype generated by the Indian board. The Wankhede pitch was one of ten relaid by the authorities in a drive to produce bouncier, more sporting wickets. Well, this one was just old wine in a new bottle, and provided plenty of turn and uneven bounce which Harbhajan and Kumble, with an accurate and hostile performance, exploited magnificently.

The carnage began 20 minutes into the morning, after which, in the space of an hour, India wrapped up five crucial wickets for just 12 runs, making the rest a formality. Harbhajan was the first to strike, inducing a leading edge off Chris Gayle (42) that looped up gently on the off side. Ganguly at cover and Sanjay Bangar at mid-off almost collided, but Bangar swayed out of his captain's way at the last moment as Ganguly held on to the chance comfortably (105 for 2).

Then Kumble got into the act, looping one up that drew Ramnaresh Sarwan (17) into a drive without reaching the pitch of the ball, and Sachin Tendulkar at cover finally got into the thick of things, hanging on to an easy catch (107 for 3).

Next it was Harbhajan's turn to demonstrate that he too was a master of flight. In a dismissal that would have delighted Erapalli Prasanna, he held one back to draw Carl Hooper (1) into a drive, and the ball went tamely back to the bowler (110 for 4). Harbhajan shrieked in delight, and more was to come.

A Kumble double strike put the issue beyond doubt. First, Ryan Hinds (2) played across the line on the front foot and got an inside-edge onto his pads that was easily caught by Virender Sehwag at short leg (117 for 5). The very next ball, Ridley Jacobs hung his bat outside off and merely managed to guide the ball to Ganguly at gully (117 for 6). Mahendra Nagamootoo was rapped on the pads from the first ball he faced, but the ball was missing off by a long way.

Chanderpaul was still there, though, determined not to panic despite the freefall at the other end. Shuffling across constantly to Harbhajan's leg-stump line and frustrating Kumble with canny shot selection and frequent use of the pads, he hung in there grimly, as his Test average continued its upward climb. Nagamootoo showed some verve and hit some good boundaries, but was lucky to be reprieved early in his innings. He got a leading edge to a ball from Harbhajan and both Kumble and Bangar went for the catch, and collided. It would have been a sitter for either one of them. Both sulked and threw nasty glances at one another for a few minutes, but neither had called to claim the catch as their own.

It wasn't a costly lapse though. Five minutes before lunch Nagamootoo (18) tried to play Harbhajan against the spin and only got a leading edge which flew to Ganguly at gully (158 for 7). The seventh-wicket stand had been worth 41; the eighth-wicket one was worth zero. Mervyn Dillon came in and straightaway gave Harbhajan his fifth wicket of the innings, edging to Rahul Dravid at slip (158 for 8).

Chanderpaul found some support in Pedro Collins, and the two held out against the spinners for almost an hour after lunch, partly due to some efficient milking of the strike by Chanderpaul. But Harbhajan had the last word when he shifted to bowling round the wicket and induced an edge off Collins (8) that was comfortably held by Dravid at slip (184 for 9). Cameron Cuffy (0) then gave an easy return catch to Harbhajan as West Indies slid to their first innings defeat against India.

It was Ganguly's 12th Test win as captain, just two short of Mohammad Azharuddin's Indian record of 14. With two Tests left in this series, he could even equal that record before the one-dayers begin.

Amit Varma is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd