Fifth Test: India versus West Indies, Jamaica

Chanderpaul piles on the agony

Day Three

The West Indies ended day 3 of the fifth and final Test at Sabina Park on 165 for 7 after a middle-order collapse and extend their lead over India to 375, with six sessions yet to be played.

Morning session:

Mervyn Dillon’s telling opening burst had the Indian batting in tatters at 207 for 9.

Trailing by 215 runs and with a single wicket in hand, India faced the daunting task of saving the Test and avoiding a series defeat, with eight sessions still to be played.

VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly negated the opening spell of Dillon and Cameron Cuffy early in the morning, playing with grim determination, occasionally thumping the loose deliveries to the fence and raising hopes of yet another riposte in the series by the Indian batsmen.

Fighting to avoid the follow-on, the Indian skipper batted watchfully, getting his foot to the pitch of the ball and playing close to the body.

With the form the pair has enjoyed on this tour, India looked confident of avoiding the follow-on, though it seemed highly unlikely that Hooper would ask India to bat again and face the daunting task of batting last on an unpredictable wicket.

Dillon drew first blood, angling the ball across Ganguly, who pushed at the delivery looking to run it down to third man. He, however, managed a bit of wood on it and Jacobs, behind the wickets, did the rest.

With Ganguly dismissed for a disciplined 36, hopes of an Indian recovery were lost, exposing the Indian tail to the West Indian bowlers.

The Jamaicans at Sabina Park then went into raptures when Dillon accounted for Ajay Ratra, forcing him to fend at a short-pitched delivery for forward short-leg fielder Wavell Hinds to complete a simple catch.

India had lost two wickets inside of the first hour of play while adding a mere 37 runs.

Bowling at a consistent 87mph, Dillon had Harbhajan Singh, fending at a rising delivery or the ‘perfume ball’, caught brilliantly by Wavell Hinds, who dived backwards to his right. Dillon's morning spell read 3 for 23, and gave him figures of five for 68, his best since his 5 for 111 in Pakistan in 1997.

The West Indian think-tank’s decision to expose the aversion of the Indians to the short-pitched stuff had paid rich dividends.

Zaheer Khan made his way to the crease with a death wish. With Laxman -- having reached his fourth fifty of the series guiding Collins to third-man - waging a lonely battle the obvious thing for Zaheer to do was to lock one end and let Laxman get India as close as possible to the West Indian total.

The strapping speedster though decided otherwise and swung at the ball, surviving two dropped catches by Adam Sanford. In between overs, Laxman had a word with the left-arm pacer but to little effect. The first ball he faced off Cuffy was slogged high up in the air and Lara completed a difficult catch in the covers.

Javagal Srinath’s dismissal was yet another striking example of India’s shortcoming against the rising delivery. Pedro Collins dug the first two deliveries short and then followed it up with a fullish delivery outside off. The ball found the edge of Srinath’s bat as he backed away expecting another snorter, to first slipper Gayle.

Then came frustration, as Nehra hung in there, facing everything thrown at him. He gave good company to Laxman as India reached 207 for 9 at lunch.

Post Lunch session

Ashish Nehra provided commendable support to Laxman after lunch, gritting it out in the middle for 44 minutes before a run-out ended the Indian innings.

Laxman patted Dillon to Sarwan at shortish point and set off for a single. A direct hit caught Nehra short of his crease and the Indian innings ended at 212, with Laxman unbeaten on 65. The last five Indian wickets amassed a mere 34 runs as opposed to the last five West Indian wickets which accounted for 72 runs.

A word of appreciation Mervyn Dillon, the West Indian spearhead who seems to have finally come of age and picked the mantle from Courtney Walsh. Registering his career best bowling figures of 5 for 71, Dillon increased his wickets tally for the series to 22.

Hooper, predictably, did not enforce the follow-on, looking to pile quick runs, set India an unassailable total and pocket the series.

West Indies innings:

Javagal Srinath used the freshness of the new ball to good effect and was almost immediately rewarded when his second ball of the first over found the edge of Gayle's bat and fell inches short of third slip.

Gayle seemed flummoxed by Srinath's swinging deliveries though he clubbed the pace bowler past mid-off for his first four and drove another through to the long-on fence. The Caribbean juggernaut rolled on.

Srinath, bowling an unrelenting line and length, got India the first strike when he had first innings centurion Wavell Hinds caught at second slip in the seventh over, to strike an early blow to the Windies innings. (17-1)

Two overs and seven runs later, a delivery from Srinath found the thick edge of Gayle's willow and flew to Ganguly at gully. Both the openers were back in the pavilion at 24 for 2.

The industrious Sarwan got to work immediately, collaring Zaheer in the 12th over of the innings for two boundaries, increasing the target for India with every stroke.

A shade of complacency saw Sarwan shape up to drive Zaheer uppishly through the covers only for SS Das, to dive forward and hold on to a brilliant catch. The West Indies, at 38 for 3, seemed in a touch of trouble.

In a lethal spell of fast bowling, Zaheer smacked Lara, struggling to find his feet at the crease, on his fingers with a delivery that failed to climb on the batsman. A perturbed Lara hooked the next short ball from Zaheer and was lucky the ball fell in no man's land. Skipper Hooper then saw the ball fly off the shoulder of his bat high over the slip cordon as the Indian fielders screamed with excitement.

Minutes later, Zaheer had Hooper nicking at an angled delivery to Ratra. India had clawed back into the match with the West Indies lead 275 runs as the players walked back to the pavilion at tea.

Post Tea session

Lara and Chanderpaul set about bringing some sanity to the West Indian second innings after tea. While Chanderpaul predictably played with the dead bat, Lara exhilarated the spectators with a few vintage strokes -- a pull of Srinath to the mid-wicket fence being the pick of the lot.

And just when the pair seemed to tame the Indian bowling tide, Zaheer pitched one that took the inside-edge of Lara's willow and the rattle of timber echoed across Sabina Park. Lara had ended the Test series without an innings to reflect his genius.

Lara's dismissal for 35 provided a huge fillip to the Indian team, as they seemed to have eked out a glimmer of a hope from utter despair a few hours ago after being dismissed for 212 runs in reply to the West Indian first innings total of 422.

Dravid, who despite having dropped close to five catches in the series and is still termed as the safest slip fielder in the Indian camp, then dropped a regulation catch of Ridley Jacobs at first slip off the bowling of Zaheer. He grabbed at the ball and failed to recover in time to hold on to the catch on the second attempt; the West Indian total read a sorry 88 for 5 at that stage, and Jacobs was on one.

The pair then meshed together a stubborn 36-run partnership as the lead swelled past the 300-run mark.

Harbhajan, bowling round the wicket, hit Jacobs on the glove and substitute Dinesh Mongia at short-leg completed the catch as the Windies tottered on 117 for 6.

Six runs later, Nehra contributed, clean-bowling Dillon, who tried an ambitious heave across the line.

Pedro Collins walked out to the centre and stuck it out with Chanderpaul, who seemed to have the key to the Indian attack in the series. For the next 19 overs, Chanderpaul farmed the strike and, shielding Pedro Collins, wove a 43-run partnership for the eighth wicket as the lead assumed dangerous proportions.

The Indian skipper persisted with Zaheer and Harbhajan, failing to look at other options as the pair continued resisting the Indian attack.

Chanderpaul reached yet another yawning half-century in the series, though the knock was invaluable keeping in mind the state the Windies innings was in when he took strike. Collins, playing with grit and concentration, kept out the Indian bowlers standing stubbornly with Chanderpaul.

Bad light stopped play with the Windies totalling 165 for 7 and increasing the lead to 375 runs.

And that brings us to the penultimate day of the five-Test series, with the Indian batsmen holding their tryst with cricketing history. No single effort from Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly or Laxman can turn the tide in India's favour. It will take Team India to believe in their abilities and not get disheartened by the magnitude of the job at hand to pull off what will be a most unbelievable upset.

Day 1
Day 2

Scoreboard