Basseterre (St Kitts), June 26 (IANS) The sun shone brightly for the second straight day at the Warner Park Stadium here Sunday. And it shone brightly on the West Indies cricket team.
India, overnight 150 for two, were 362 all out by tea in their first innings on the fourth day of the third Test. That left them 219 behind the West Indian first innings score of 581.
But West Indian captain Brian Lara decided not to enforce the follow on. A result now looks highly unlikely in this Test.
A last-wicket stand of 47, between Harbhajan Singh (38 not out) and Munaf Patel (13), checked the West Indian progress after India had slid to 315 for nine about 30 minutes before the scheduled tea break. That, and an injury to Pedro Collins, probably resulted in Lara deciding not to enforce the follow on.
Jerome Taylor struck the decisive blows early in the morning, removing Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Mohd Kaif in the space of six deliveries in his first two overs of the day.
V.V.S. Laxman battled hard for exactly 100 and had useful little partnerships with Mahendra Singh Dhoni (29) and Anil Kumble (43) but they were not enough as the West Indies smelt blood and, for the first time in the series, moved aggressively for the kill.
The Indians might have been surprised that three of their first four batsmen to fall Sunday - Dravid, Kaif and Dhoni - were given out leg before by umpire Brian Jerling, especially given his reluctance to raise his finger on the first two-and-a-half days when the Indians had several good shouts turned down.
But while Jerling, standing in his first Test, might not have been consistent, he could not be faulted on accuracy. Only Kaif could consider himself unlucky not to get the benefit of doubt. The ball that got him, cut back sharply and seemed to be missing leg.
Dravid looked a little late coming down and missed the line of one that cut back sharply from Taylor while Yuvraj nibbled lazily at one angled across and edged to Ramdin.
Dhoni was trapped in front by Corey Collymore, missing the ball as he shuffled and tried to play it on the legside, after he and Laxman had put on 61 for the sixth wicket.
Laxman then added 77 with Kumble, the last 41 of those coming off the second new ball, in seven overs and, at that stage, India seemed headed towards safety and the match towards a draw.
The 77th run of the stand had given Laxman his hundred, the 10th of his career and third against the West Indies, and like so many of his big innings was vital to the interest of his team.
It was full of grit and determination and flair, too. Fifteen boundaries, in a stay of 338 minutes in which he faced 231 balls, were testimony to that.
But he was out the ball after he reached his 100, perhaps not having regained his concentration after reaching the landmark. He just poked at a ball from Collins, angled away from him, nicked it and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, diving, took a good catch.
The dismissal would have left Laxman with mixed feelings. There has been increasing pressure on him over the last year and after three poor scores this century should boost his morale. But he would have been disappointed that he had not got his team out of the woods.
SCOREBOARD
Day 4, Tea, Third Test, West Indies v India, Warner Park Stadium, Basseterre (St Kitts)
West Indies (1st innings): 581
India (1st innings):
Wasim Jaffer c Lara b Bravo 60
Virender Sehwag c Lara b Collymore 31
V.V.S. Laxman c Ramdin b Collins 100
Rahul Dravid lbw Taylor 22
Yuvraj Singh c Ramdin b Taylor 0
Mohd Kaif lbw Taylor 0
M.S. Dhoni lbw Collymore 29
Anil Kumble c Collins b Collymore 43
Harbhajan Singh not out 38
S. Sreesanth c Lara b Collins 0
Munaf Patel c Ganga b Bravo 13
Extras (b8, lb 5, nb 13) 26
Total (all out in 107 overs) 362
Fall of wicket: 1-61, 2-124, 3-157, 4-159, 5-159, 6-220, 7-297, 8-311, 9-315, 10-362
Bowling:
Jerome Taylor 26-3-118-3
Pedro Collins 29.3-4-117-2 (10 nb)
Corey Collymore 25-4-63-3 (2nb)
Dwayne Bravo 17.3-6-38-2 (1nb)
Chris Gayle 2-0-3-0
Marlon Samuels 7-1-10-0
© 2006 Indo-Asian News Service | 
