Daren Ganga and Ramnaresh Sarwan put the West Indies on course towards a mammoth first innings total with a double century stand in the opening session on day 2, in the third Test against India, at St Kitts, on Friday.
Resuming at 207 for 1, the hosts swelled their first innings total to 420 for 5 by tea, when a thunderstorm forced the last session to be abandoned.
When play was called off, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 24 and Marlon Samuels on 8.
Munaf Patel was the pick of the Indian bowlers, claiming three wickets for 120, though he had the ignominy of conceding 25 runs (6 boundaries) in an over to Sarwan earlier in the day.
Munaf then struck twice in three overs in the closing minutes of the first session, claiming the wickets of Ganga and captain Brian Lara (10), to bring some solace to the visitors.
S Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh accounted for the other wickets to fall in the second session.
Ganga and Sarwan, who scored 135 and 116 respectively, were involved in a partnership of 205 runs for the second wicket. 64 overnight, Ganga went on to post his third Test century. His 135 came off 294 balls and included 15 fours.
Sarwan, celebrating his 26th birthday, hit his ninth career hundred. His 116, off 174 balls, was inclusive of 17 fours and a six.
Morning sessionIt was, on the second morning, more of the same - a lot more of the same, actually, given that play started half an hour early to make up for lost time.
Rahul Dravid faced a conundrum in the morning - an overcast sky and a ball abraded on the rough pitch seemed tailor made for early reverse swing. Against that, the new ball was 16 overs away, and would have been useless in the hands of two seamers who had by then already bowled a longish spell.
Dravid chose to try Munaf Patel for three overs, before switching to spin. Post-game quarterbacking is easy, but at the time it seemed to me the better option was to have used the two seamers in tandem for about 8, 10 overs, then switched them out, let them rest while the spinners came on, and taken the new ball shortly before lunch so the bowlers could rest during the break and get back in there.
In the event, the Windies batsmen got into a groove quickly against a seemingly deflated Kumble, and a Harbhajan Singh seemingly incapable of finding length let alone bite (to add to the general worries, the usually reliable fielder took to shepherding the ball around the park).
Two points of play pretty much symbolized a bowling effort that on the day was completely lacking in energy and ideas. The first came in the over immediately after drinks when Harbhajan, by then going through the motions, went around the wicket and dropped one in his own half of the pitch.
Darren Ganga stepped forward, went back, lined up point, then went oh what the heck, might as well try and take Yuvraj Singh's head off, and launched a fierce pull. The ball was so slow, so nothing, he could have missed with the hit and still had enough time to try another shot.
The new ball was taken immediately on schedule - and it was the turn of Munaf Patel, who till this point has been bowling very well on tour, to lose the plot completely. A bowler who was impeccably on length and on the stumps through yesterday appeared to have lost his radar.
He was short and wide in the morning with the old ball, he was short and wide again here with the new one - his first over with the new ball gave enough width for Ganga to rock back and square cut the four that got him to his century (103/249 deliveries).
And then the bowler had his implosion. Ball one of the 84th over was short and wide, and Sarwan blasted him through the covers. Ball two was short, and got hooked through midwicket. Ball three was wide, and driven on the rise by Sarwan, the shot barely brushing the fingertips of a diving Yuvraj Singh at cover. Ball four was again short, and Sarwan under-edged a cut close to the stumps and to the fine leg fence. Ball five was short and wide, and cut through backward point. Ball six was a no ball - short, wide, driven through point, four, to tally 25 for the over.
That flurry of fours got Sarwan to one short of his 9th Test century on his 26th birthday; the landmark came up in the next over, off 132 deliveries and with 16 fours and one six.
And in his next over, Patel went short and wide again, and got creamed for two more fours, this time by Ganga. Not only was Patel, who went for 37 in those two overs, shredding visibly, he was also negating Sreesanth's spell of swing and seam at the other end - and in the process, forcing India to bring back Kumble for damage control.
While the Indians unraveled in the field, the West Indies played the session to a nicety. Ganga has given himself the job of holding one end up, and he maintained his concentration and his focus while doing that job to a nicety. Sarwan had, at the start of his innings, seemed a touch edgy - but once he got his feet moving, he played the game his team needed, going on the attack to make sure that in a game that has already lost some time to rain and could lose more, the West Indies were given the gift of time.
Sarwan's innings was particularly impressive for the conviction of his shot-making. He looked to play shots to pretty much everything, and his assault not only scattered the field and took pressure off his partner, but has over the course of the session set the game up for the West Indies, who with the likes of Lara and Bravo in the hut, look to really accelerate in the afternoon and early part of the evening, heading towards a score around the 600 mark that should, even in benign batting conditions, put pressure on the Indians.
Rather than let Munaf Patel swelter in a corner, alone with his ignominy, he was brought back after Kumble had bowled three overs and in the process given the seamer some time to recover his nerve. Also aiding his rehabilitation was a switch to the opposite end - a seemingly little thing, but sometimes, when things go haywire and you can't figure why, the little things kick it back into gear.
Patel, to his credit, bowled a far fuller length in his second spell; in his second over of the second spell, a fuller length delivery seaming in late caused Ganga's attempted cut to go awry; the ball took the inner edge and cannoned onto off stump (135/294; 346/2). The wicket fell shortly after the second wicket pair had crossed the 200 mark, at a healthy 3.6 run rate.
It was a terrific effort by the Windies opener - his presence at one end allowed first Gayle, then Sarwan, to push the run rate along at a fair clip.
Lara came out looking to dance, and twice in the first over he faced off Kumble, was fortunate - first when a dance down the wicket saw him misread the flight and end up with the ball on the toe of the boot, then again when an attempt to work one on the on got the leading edge and flared just over the head of the bowler.
The big blow though was struck in the next over - Patel first surprised Lara with an angled delivery that the batsman left, only to see it seaming in and passing dangerously close to the stumps. The next ball was even fuller, and straighter - Lara pushed with bat behind pad, and was nailed in front of middle, and on top of the crease, giving Rudi Koertzen an easy decision to make (356/3; Lara 10/11).
The two wickets slowed the momentum somewhat - Sarwan had to check his headlong rush, and the ten runs he scored after crossing his century took 32 deliveries.
At lunch, the West Indies were on 362/3; the session had produced 155 runs off 35 overs for the loss of two wickets, at a run rate of 4.43.
In passing, a thought: As on day one, Anil Kumble again had what the commentators said was `a very good shout', on more than one occasion, against both Sarwan and Ganga. Again, the umpire did not look remotely interested.
What intrigued me was this: Since day one provided sufficient evidence that the tyro, Brian Jerling, had a different approach to LBW appeals than the conventional, why was Kumble still bowling from his end, instead of switching around to Rudi Koertzen's end - especially sine Koertzen has been around long enough for bowlers around the world to know he is not particularly keen on what the commentators described as `professional padding'?
It was easily one of the more obvious bets missed by Dravid, on a day when the Indians collectively missed bets, and the bus.
One other thing - at lunch, with the West Indies dominating by miles, this might sound optimistic, but is merely realistic: this game is headed for the dullest draw of the series. Put your shirt on it, you will likely win a full wardrobe.
Post-Lunch session
The West Indies started the session with the sledgehammer raised high over the fielding team's head, poised to hammer it into submission - and then let it slip.
India began the session with Harbhajan Singh at one end (the one Brian Jerling is officiating from) and Sreesanth at the other. Given how he had bowled in the Test thus far, opening a session with the off spinner seemed a touch dodgy - but maybe the team management knew something not as apparent to the onlooker, for Harbhajan finally hit his straps.
While still a long way from his best, the offie got his geometry right, increased his length, and focused on making batsmen play at him on the front foot, with men around the bat.
At the other end, Sreesanth got the ball to swing around considerably in the air - and struck, in the 4th over of the session, when he produced an inswinger on near perfect length to beat Sarwan's forward push with bat behind pad, and strike him in front.
Rudi Koertzen took a lifetime to raise his finger; Sarwan studiously avoided looking at him all that while, and in the commentary box, there was much fun: Oh, we have to see if that struck in line, oh, okay, it has, but was it straightening, it looked like it was sliding past leg stump, oh, okay, Hawkeye says it was hitting the middle and leg stumps, about half way up. (116/174; 371/4).
In the event, the strike ended a great innings from Sarwan; one that maintained the tempo set by Gayle and ensured that the home team continued its fevered push for runs at speed.
After Lara, Bravo was always going to be the real danger - a batsman who, in the true Caribbean mould, can shrug off conditions and bowling alike, and dictate terms. Harbhajan, however, sussed him out in the over before drinks and took him out in the over after.
The off spinner took to bowling very tight and very full in the corridor, using the off break and mixing in the odd arm ball going through straight. The length kept Bravo from coming down the wicket; the ball turning in on a tight off line meant he couldn't force square on either side.
Immediately after the break, Harbhajan again produced a delivery in the channel on a full length. Bravo, unable to come forward with any consistency, tried to vary things by moving back and looking to force through point. The ball was too close to him for either the initial backward movement, or even the shot he elected; he got the edge and Dhoni did well to stay low and take (407/5; 21/33).
At 345/1 in the morning session, there was only one side on the park, and a total of 600 before close seemed the most likely possibility. At 406/5, not so - it was the turn of the batsmen to struggle.
The situation could have been even worse for the home side - with the score on 414/5 Marlon Samuels (5/16), drafted into this side to beef up the batting, poked forward to a Harbhajan Singh off break; the ball turned in, hit the pad, then took the glove and Yuvraj Singh at short mid off dived forward to hold. Brian Jerling thought otherwise, and Samuels became the latest beneficiary of the debutant umpire.
When Harbhajan ended his marathon afternoon spell nearing tea, he had gone a long way towards rehabilitation - his analysis at the time read 12-1-24-1, against the 17-1-72-0 he came into the session with.
At tea, the West Indies had gone to 420/5, giving the Indians cause for relief at having clawed their way back in - the session produced just 58 runs off 26 overs for the loss of two wickets.
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