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Windies surge checked
in last hour

Faisal Shariff

India vs West Indies: 3rd Test: Day 2 Kolkata, India

Scorecard

A West Indian batsman finally put his hand up and scored a hundred in the ongoing Test series against India. With the series already lost and only Caribbean pride to play for, 26-year-old Jamaican Wavell Hinds carved out a century that embraced courage and skill in equal measure.

In the process, he and Chris Gayle notched a 172-run opening partnership on a day which was paled only by Harbhajan's three-wicket burst in the last session.

The West Indies ended day two on 189 for 3, still trailing the Indian total by 169 runs, with seven wickets standing.

Morning session

India were bowled out for 358 in the morning session, which began 30 minutes earlier than schedule to make up for the seven overs lost to bad light yesterday.

The West Indies, in reply, were 23-0 at lunch, still 335 runs in arrears.

There was a time when the Indian team was, in a lighter vein, termed as a strange animal with a tail at both its ends.

With 103 runs contributed by the last four batsmen, that joke does not deserve even a grin anymore.

The Indian tail rattled the West Indian bowlers to a position of desperation in the morning session, amassing 83 runs at a furious rate. Parthiv Patel (47) and Javagal Srinath (46) have made a serious bid to be included in the one-day plans for the World Cup next year.

Patel edged a widish delivery from Cameroon Cuffy to Carl Hooper, at second slip, who lunged for it, only to see the ball pop out of his hands. Chris Gayle, at first slip, tried to hold on to the rebound, but failed.

This happened in the first over of the day.

Two balls later, Cuffy swung one in to crash into Harbhajan's off-stump to end his stint at six.

Having lost six wickets on the first day for only 275 runs, India was in danger of losing the initiative to put up a challenging first innings total.

Srinath's outing dispelled that danger. Moving generously away from his leg-stump -- enough to accommodate another batsman -- he drove the Windies bowlers to distraction.

Playing through the line of the ball he smashed Mervyn Dillon through extra cover for four. He turned his attention towards Cuffy and lofted him over mid-on for another boundary. With a back foot punch through extra-cover for another four, Srinath finished the over, taking the delivery on the full and sending it rocketing over the umpire's head for four.

Coach John Wright has reinforced the importance of contributions from the lower order batsmen repeatedly. The hundred runs from the last four batsmen at Chennai proved to be crucial in the final analysis of the Test, with India having to chase 81 instead of 181 runs.

Parthiv was, meanwhile, creating shots usually concocted at home with imaginary bowlers, not in the middle at the age of 17. A delectable flick off his pads to the mid-wicket fence took him into the 40s towards his first Test half-century.

45 runs were scored in eight overs since morning as India raced to 320-7.The new ball, taken early in the morning, had failed to realise Hooper's hopes of grabbing early wickets and restricting the total to 310-320.

Srinath literally killed Hooper's hopes, bludgeoning all bowlers into submission. A six over mid-off fence off Cuffy was the icing on his cake.

Parthiv's inclusion into the team has done a fat lot of good for the lower order. With a four past point, he brought up the 50-run partnership, in only 49 balls, with Srinath. Another square cut, which crashed into the advertising boards, cleaned out the West Indian challenge.

A crestfallen Hooper brought himself on only to be slapped by Srinath to the long-off fence for four; a deft touch down to the third man fence completed the ignominy for the tourists as India crossed the 350-run mark.

Three short of what would have been a well-deserved fifty, Patel played an airy square drive straight to Chanderpaul at point off Jermaine Lawson. (353-8)

The brisk 73-run partnership between Patel and Srinath threw the Windies to the brink of a humiliating whitewash.

Dillon finally got Srinath -- for 46 off 40 balls -- to nick a short of length delivery to Hooper at second slip. (358-9)

Kumble was trapped in front without adding to the score.

83 runs were scored in the 18.2 overs India faced in the morning session, at an astounding rate of 4.56, forcing the West Indian openers to face a gruelling 30 minutes before lunch.

At lunch, the West Indian openers had notched up 23 runs without losing a wicket.

Post-lunch session

"Test cricket is about playing a high quality of cricket for an extended period of time; you have to be able to sustain it," said coach Roger Harper.

The Jamaican opening pair of Wavell Hinds and Chris Gayle applied themselves and sustained a high quality of batting after lunch to keep the West Indies' hopes alive in the third Test.

After keeping the openers on a tight leash, Harbhajan Singh lost the plot as he was driven through the off-side for a boundary and swept to the square-leg fence by Chris Gayle.

In his next over, Hinds square-cut the offie for two boundaries as the flow of runs got rapid and threatening. Hinds got to his second successive half-century of the series. He used his feet well against the spinners and waited patiently for the loose deliveries.

Gayle, after an authoritative 154 in the tour match against the Ranji champions Railways, in Pune, was more patient and watchful.

86 runs were scored in the session of 30 overs, with skipper Ganguly persevering with spin.

At tea, the Windies were 109 for 0, trailing the Indian total by 249 runs, with Hinds looking set for a hundred and Gayle seven short of his maiden fifty of the series.

If the West Indies end the day with eight wickets in hand, the Indian bowlers will have to bowl out of their skins to avoid them from running away to a huge 450-plus total.

Post-tea session:

The session belonged to Hinds as he attacked the Indian bowlers with panache and a studied intensity to make-up for the impetuous shot in the second innings of the Chennai Test that led to his dismissal after getting to his half-century.

The West Indies chairman of selectors Sir Viv Richards had rebuked him for the shot and the Jamaican was determined to redeem himself with a valuable contribution.

A strong back-foot player, Hinds punctured the Indian attack with booming drives and rapacious cuts, well aware of the fact that once the ball crossed the infield the fast outfield would take it to the fence. Thirty boundaries in the West Indies innings of 189 illustrate the ease with which runs flow at the Eden Gardens. The Jamaican openers were sniffing the gunpowder in equal measure.

Gayle reached his eighth Test fifty, pushing Kumble to the covers and sauntering through for a single. The left-handed batsman accelerated his scoring after crossing 50, driving Kumble through extra-cover and then pulling Nehra for two consecutive boundaries.

Hinds drove Kumble through extra cover and pulled him over midwicket to race through his nineties. He survived a bat-pad catch off Harbhajan on 99 before sweeping the ball to complete his third Test hundred.

Hinds’s innings was a study for his batting partners. His 100 off 190 balls had 142 dot balls, indicating the patience he displayed and rotated the strike (28 singles) well, never once failing to punish the loose deliveries (16 fours).

India bounced back into the match in the last hour of the day after the drinks break when Harbhajan induced Hinds to pull the ball straight to Ganguly at square leg. (172-1)

Ramnaresh Sarwan was fooled by a top-spinner from Harbhajan; Pushing at a delivery, and anticipating it to turn, Sarwan was brilliantly stumped by Patel.

And as it has happened through the series, each time a West Indian wicket fell it was the first of many to fall. In the same over -- two balls later -- Harbhajan yorked night-watchman Mervyn Dillon for a blob.

Three wickets fell in nine overs with the addition of 14 runs as the Caribbean carnival fizzled out when bad light forced another early finish to the day’s proceedings.

The West Indies ended day two on 189 for 3, still trailing the Indian total by 169 runs and with seven wickets standing.