Date-stamped : 26 Jan97 - 14:52 , Entire match report Here are the details of the first test match between India and WI which was won by India eventually. It was topsy turvy all the way and it could have gone anyone`s way. Except for Sachin and Sanjay none of the top order batsmen on either side flourished. Sachin proved why he is considered one of the best (Ravi Shastri says he is the best) batsman with that masterly 85 in India`s second in- nings. He played some great shots on either side of the wicket and his methods to negotiate short pitched stuff are laudable. On the third day morning Walsh and Benjamin were breathing fire and Sachin reminded one of the Little Master. India scored 272 in the first innings. Nayan Mongia showed great courage and went on to score 80 which is his highest test score. The top order failed to deliver the goods and it was upto Manjrekar and Mongia to do the rescue act. Manjrekar in his comeback test proved his class and played solidly. The windies had to dig him with a wheelbarrow. He just kept one end tied and allowed the others to throw their bats around. He scored 51 in the first innings. Walsh took 6 wickets and Benjamin took 3. It always helps to have someone like Sanjay at No.6 . The wicket is totally unpredictable and one should agree that it is not the one for heavy scoring. Very few could have scored like Sachin against such an attack on such a wicket. The West Indies started their innings with Brian Lara at number 3. "The Prince" quite mysteriously is a total flop in India. Given his talent and records he is a big disappointment and has let down the Windies so far. Remember how he hammered Waqar and Wasim a la Viv Richards. Lara was dismissed for 14 bowled by Raju (he is having a great time). There were some useful 30s and 40s from Hooper, Arthurton, Williams (top scorer 49), Adam and Murray. But they were not enough and Windies were shot out for 243. Raju took 5 and Kumble 3. Raju bowled excellently and gave the ball lot of air a la "The Sardar of Spin". India started it`s second innings with a lead of just 29 runs. At close of play on second day they were reduced to 11 for 3. India lost Prabhakar, Mongia (sent in as a night watchman) and Kambli. So, that was a total disaster. Then came the "new Little Master" to the rescue. What an innings it was! One coverdrive off Benjamin is etched in the memory of spectators. That is easily the best shot of the match. Sachin batted magnificiently before edging one off Hooper while shaping for an offglide. Sanjay Manjrekar was at his defensive best. One highlight of the match is the Indian tailenders had a great time with the bat in the second innings. Kumble and Srinath batted like seasoned batsmen and scored 42 and 60 respectively at a very brisk pace. Mind you they didn`t just throw their bats around but played sen- sibly and their technique too is good. India scored 333 in the second innings and that left the Windies with 363 to win and almost 5 sessions to do that. Their second innings started disastrously and they lost both Sim- mons and Lara with just 2 on the board. Prabhakar got both of them. Quite interestingly Lara was clean bowled this time too. Is something wrong with his defence or technique or stance? Give it a thought. It`s time that he takes some tips from Sir Gary and/or Sunil Gavaskar. They were 82 for 5 with one hour for tea. We as- sumed that it`ll be all over before tea. But it was not all that easy for India. Jimmy adams and Murray almost took the match away from the Indians. They added 162 for the 6th wicket in less than 3 hours. Then it was the gutsy Rajesh Chauhan who clean bowled Murray for 85 and rekindled India`s hope. Chauhan has this knack of bowling with guts against the tide and of late he`s picked some crucial wickets. Not long ago, when Boon and Mark Waugh were going great guns, did he clean bowl both of them and turned the one-dayer in favour of India. At the end of 4th day`s play Win- dies are 252 for 8. They started the fifth day with a target of 111 and just 2 wickets in hand. For India it was just completing the formalities. Srinath and Raju took 1 wicket each and paved the way for an Indian victory. Javagal Srinath won the Man of the Match award for his 60 in the second innings and match tally of 5 wickets (1+4). This is the 10th win for Azhar as a captain and he surpassed the old record of 9 wins held by Tiger Pataudi and Sunil Gavaskar. Vinod Kambli now holds an Indian record for fastest 1000 test runs off just 12 tests (14 innings) and broke Sunil Gavaskar`s record. Contributed by sai (sesha@venus.wipsys.soft.net)