KOLKATA, India — The official match clock at the Eden Gardens was about to strike ahead of tea-time. The Kolkata crowd was about to stretch their legs after an intense session, wherein the West Indies lost five wickets for 82 runs.

There was only time for one last over, perhaps, and then Indian skipper MS Dhoni threw the ball to Sachin Tendulkar. Everyone came alive in an instant.

There were bated breaths for three successive deliveries. Even with a ball in his hand, there were a billion expectations from him. And why not, this was probably the last time he was bowling, surely so at Eden. On the fourth delivery then, Sachin Tendulkar summoned all his magic — resurrecting his heroics from 1993 and 2001 at the same ground — and his delivery to Shane Shillingford went straight on. The loud thud into the batsman’s pads was followed by the crowd erupting instantly, and before umpire Nigel Long raised his finger, the batsman knew he was out. How could he not be?

Sachin finished his over after tea and Dhoni furtively gave him another one. No wickets came off the maestro’s second over, but the fans had been entertained, Eden Gardens given another souvenir. The damage to the Windies’ scorecard, well, that was totally a different story.

The wicket here was a little two-paced for a lack of preparation time this early in the domestic season. This little fact alone made it a good toss to win. Chris Gayle and Kieran Powell showed their intent early on, attacking both R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha. Even their quick, successive dismissals couldn’t peg back the scoring because Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels marched on.

The latter in particular was a delight to watch. At thirty-two, he is fairly experienced and has a good know-how of the local conditions, enhanced by his IPL campaigns. He opened up early against the bowling attack, and was severe on both the spinners. At the other end, Bravo was picturesque as he cover-drove with perfection to get off the mark. He was slow, but looked set for a big one. So did Samuels. Then it all went bust.

Mohammad Shami, making his debut at his home ground, bowled with fiery pace and venomous movement. His deliveries came in, or shaped outwards, bamboozling the batsmen post-lunch. Powell miscued a pull shot, Samuels lost the top of his middle stump, Dinesh Ramdin’s off-stump was knocked back and when debutant Sheldon Cottrell’s stumps went for a walk, the visitors had been bowled out for a paltry 234.

“I didn’t do anything different, just concentrated on bowling the right line and length, just let the ball and pitch do their work.” said Shami, jubilant at his debut bowling effort. “It is a dream, come true, for me to play my first Test at my home ground, and my joy doubles because I am sharing the dressing room with Sachin Tendulkar.”

As much as the medium-pacer gave a good account of his abilities, the Windies batsmen were guilty of playing rash shots, when the pitch demanded restraint to reap rich benefits as the game progresses. Powell was the first one guilty, going for a non-existent pull shot. Gayle played the way he does and there cannot be complaints against him. Samuels misjudged the height of the delivery he got out to. Ramdin’s shot was all over as his defences were breached. Darren Sammy failed to play responsibly and holed out, attempting to clear the ropes.

Only Shivnarine Chanderpaul can claim to have been beaten by a great delivery, as Ashwin’s off-spinner held its line and went through the gate. But the southpaw did cost his team, mixing up a call to Bravo and ran him out.

“We had a set target in mind, when he decided to bat first,” said Marlon Samuels, the top-scorer for his team. “400 would have been a good score in the first innings in order to be in a good position towards the end of the match. But we fell way short. Now it is tough work in the field for us and we must field well, and not let the Indian batsmen score quickly and get past our runs.”

That is, however, easier said than done. Day two of any Test is the best opportunity to bat and steer the game. West Indies have squandered this chance and gifted it to the Indian batsmen, who will be eager to make it count. Especially, Sachin Tendulkar.