Darren Bravo's 73 and his sixth-wicket partnership with Carlton Baugh ensured West Indies would hang on for a draw, but the story of the rain-affected second Test match at Kensington Oval was Ishant Sharma bagging his maiden 10-wicket haul in Test cricket. After India skipper MS Dhoni made a sporting declaration just over an hour into the last day's play
with India 269 for 6 in their second innings and set West Indies a target of 281 in a maximum of 83 overs to level the series before bad light played spoilsport when it looked the match was headed towards an exciting finale, and as a result the match ended in a draw. India is 1-0 ahead in the series with the third and final Test starting next week.
Bravo starred in two half-century partnerships - 54 for the fourth wicket with Shivnarine Chanderpaul and 69 for the sixth wicket with Baugh. While the first ensured West Indies wouldn't collapse in a heap, the second staved off India's victory charge. Bravo has been spoken about as the future of West Indies cricket and though he has found run-scoring tough of late, he found the perfect moment to remind the world of his talent as he looked largely untroubled in his 174-ball 73 as he mixed caution with aggression and took the responsibility of saving the match for West Indies. While support from Chanderpaul was expected, Baugh's resistance came as a surprise and the Windies' keeper-batsman made the most of a dropped catch by Dhoni and also saw off a few close LBW shouts against him before coming into his own as he took the 'attack is the best form of defence' approach. And, just when it looked Bravo and Baugh (46*) would steer West Indies towards safe waters, the former was caught behind by Dhoni off Abhimanyu Mithun after a rain delay. Ishant then trapped West Indies captain Darren Sammy plumb to take his fourth wicket of the innings to finish with match figures of 10-108 before bad light forced the end of the match with West Indies 202 for seven in 71.3 overs.
The Windies run chase had got off to the worst start possible as Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar took a wicket each to reduce West Indies to 27 for 2 inside seven overs. Ishant, who had taken 6-55 in the hosts' first innings gave India the initial breakthrough when he had Lendl Simmons caught at first slip by Rahul Dravid for 14; and then Praveen got Ramnaresh Sarwan to edge an attempted cut to Suresh Raina at third slip. Sarwan's dismissal for 8 extended his run of low scores this year. In the first two Tests against India, Sarwan has scored 29 runs at an average of 7.25; and he has managed only 83 runs at an average of 10.37 in the four Tests he has played in 2011.
Adrian Barath and Bravo then saw West Indies through to lunch without the loss of any more wickets, with the former looking a lot more assured in the middle even as the left-hander struggled to put bat to ball until he got off the mark with a boundary from the 15th ball he faced. After getting off the mark, Bravo looked a lot more confident and would go on to play a draw-saving innings for the hosts. Barath, who had hit Abhimanyu Mithun for six over point in the morning session, was dismissed by Ishant Sharma in the second over of the post-lunch session after the perfect set-up. After Barath (27 in 64 balls) had survived a close LBW shout, Ishant sneaked a legcutter past his outside edge off the next delivery and then put the exclamation mark when he surprised the batsman by adjusting his length closer to the offstump and the West Indies opener only succeeded in edging a catch to Raina at third slip as the hosts slipped to 55 for three and gave India a realistic whiff at victory.
But, Bravo and Chanderpaul then batted through tea without getting separated, and while they adopted the cautious approach, the batsmen were also helped in their cause by some listless bowling from Mithun and Harbhajan after Ishant and Praveen had been taken out of the attack; and Dhoni could have been rightly frustrated that his bowlers weren't making the best of his declaration. Mithun did bowl a good delivery every now and then in the middle of some mediocre bowling that hardly encouraged either batsmen to even attempt playing a shot. Harbhajan was a disappointment and hardly looked threatening though admittedly the pitch didn't take too much spin, but a bowler of his experience should have the ability to use the conditions on offer. And, while most of his deliveries were well outside the off stump and the ones that did pitch in line were easily negotiated by the batsmen; it was Harbhajan who gave India an important breakthrough in the first over of the third session when he trapped Chanderpaul LBW for a 87-ball 12. That though was a lucky wicket as it came courtesy a rare howler from umpire Ian Gould who ruled Chanderpaul out though the ball was clearly missing the off stump. Chanderpaul had done his job though as his fourth-wicket partnership of 54 runs with Bravo took almost 29 overs and took West Indies closer to safety.
And, when Ishant took his third wicket of the ininngs shortly after Bravo scored a well-deserved half-century off 120 balls, India were back in with a chance of winning the match. After Chanderpaul's exit, the onus fell on Bravo and Marlon Samuels, who top-scored with 78* in West Indies's first innings, to steer the hosts towards safety. But, Ishant trapped Samuels plumb in front when he was late bringing his bat down to a length ball that came in to leave West Indies 132 for five. But, the partnership between Bravo and Baugh steered the hosts towards safety before two quick wickets fell and just when it appeared the match was headed for an exciting finish, bad light intervened as West Indies salvaged a draw and this result should do wonders for their confidence ahead of next week's series-decider.
Earlier, India batted for only 12 overs in the morning session and West Indies pacer Fidel Edwards, who picked up his ninth five-for in Tests even as VVS Laxman missed out on a century for the second time in the match. Virat Kohli, who has been dropped from India's Test squad for the England series, had added only one run to his overnight score of 26, when Edwards got him to edge a loose drive to Sammy at second slip in the second over of the day; and the same combination was in action six overs later to deny Laxman a well-deserved century.
Laxman, who had made 85 in India's first innings total of 201, was furious with himself after he had edged a length ball to be dismissed for a classic Test knock of 87 in 188 balls, which could make for a case study in the art of batting under tough conditions. Edwards then had Dhoni caught by Chanderpaul at mid-off as the Indian skipper's poor form with the bat in the series continued - he has scored only 23 runs in four innings at an average of 5.75 in the Caribbean. It was then Raina's turn to face the Edwards music and the southpaw was in visible discomfort dealing with his bounce and variation. Raina clearly wanted to accelerate the scoring but was unable to and was 12 not out off 30 balls while Harbhajan Singh was 6 not out at the time of declaration. Edwards (8-132 in the match) finished with 5-76; Ravi Rampaul had taken Murali Vijay's wicket on Friday.
The third and last Test match of the series will be played at Roseau from July 6, and victory there would not only see India wrap up their second away straight Test series win against West Indies, but it will also make this the first Indian team to win a Test and one-day international series in the Caribbean.
BRIEF SCORES: India 201 (Laxman 85, Raina 53, Rampaul 3-38, Bishoo 3-46) and 269/6 declared (Laxman 87, Dravid 55, Edwards 5-76) Drew with West Indies 190 (Samuels 78*, Chanderpaul 37, Ishant 6-55, Mithun 2-34) and 202/7 (Bravo 73, Baugh 46*, Ishant 4-53).
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with India 269 for 6 in their second innings and set West Indies a target of 281 in a maximum of 83 overs to level the series before bad light played spoilsport when it looked the match was headed towards an exciting finale, and as a result the match ended in a draw. India is 1-0 ahead in the series with the third and final Test starting next week.
Bravo starred in two half-century partnerships - 54 for the fourth wicket with Shivnarine Chanderpaul and 69 for the sixth wicket with Baugh. While the first ensured West Indies wouldn't collapse in a heap, the second staved off India's victory charge. Bravo has been spoken about as the future of West Indies cricket and though he has found run-scoring tough of late, he found the perfect moment to remind the world of his talent as he looked largely untroubled in his 174-ball 73 as he mixed caution with aggression and took the responsibility of saving the match for West Indies. While support from Chanderpaul was expected, Baugh's resistance came as a surprise and the Windies' keeper-batsman made the most of a dropped catch by Dhoni and also saw off a few close LBW shouts against him before coming into his own as he took the 'attack is the best form of defence' approach. And, just when it looked Bravo and Baugh (46*) would steer West Indies towards safe waters, the former was caught behind by Dhoni off Abhimanyu Mithun after a rain delay. Ishant then trapped West Indies captain Darren Sammy plumb to take his fourth wicket of the innings to finish with match figures of 10-108 before bad light forced the end of the match with West Indies 202 for seven in 71.3 overs.
The Windies run chase had got off to the worst start possible as Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar took a wicket each to reduce West Indies to 27 for 2 inside seven overs. Ishant, who had taken 6-55 in the hosts' first innings gave India the initial breakthrough when he had Lendl Simmons caught at first slip by Rahul Dravid for 14; and then Praveen got Ramnaresh Sarwan to edge an attempted cut to Suresh Raina at third slip. Sarwan's dismissal for 8 extended his run of low scores this year. In the first two Tests against India, Sarwan has scored 29 runs at an average of 7.25; and he has managed only 83 runs at an average of 10.37 in the four Tests he has played in 2011.
Adrian Barath and Bravo then saw West Indies through to lunch without the loss of any more wickets, with the former looking a lot more assured in the middle even as the left-hander struggled to put bat to ball until he got off the mark with a boundary from the 15th ball he faced. After getting off the mark, Bravo looked a lot more confident and would go on to play a draw-saving innings for the hosts. Barath, who had hit Abhimanyu Mithun for six over point in the morning session, was dismissed by Ishant Sharma in the second over of the post-lunch session after the perfect set-up. After Barath (27 in 64 balls) had survived a close LBW shout, Ishant sneaked a legcutter past his outside edge off the next delivery and then put the exclamation mark when he surprised the batsman by adjusting his length closer to the offstump and the West Indies opener only succeeded in edging a catch to Raina at third slip as the hosts slipped to 55 for three and gave India a realistic whiff at victory.
But, Bravo and Chanderpaul then batted through tea without getting separated, and while they adopted the cautious approach, the batsmen were also helped in their cause by some listless bowling from Mithun and Harbhajan after Ishant and Praveen had been taken out of the attack; and Dhoni could have been rightly frustrated that his bowlers weren't making the best of his declaration. Mithun did bowl a good delivery every now and then in the middle of some mediocre bowling that hardly encouraged either batsmen to even attempt playing a shot. Harbhajan was a disappointment and hardly looked threatening though admittedly the pitch didn't take too much spin, but a bowler of his experience should have the ability to use the conditions on offer. And, while most of his deliveries were well outside the off stump and the ones that did pitch in line were easily negotiated by the batsmen; it was Harbhajan who gave India an important breakthrough in the first over of the third session when he trapped Chanderpaul LBW for a 87-ball 12. That though was a lucky wicket as it came courtesy a rare howler from umpire Ian Gould who ruled Chanderpaul out though the ball was clearly missing the off stump. Chanderpaul had done his job though as his fourth-wicket partnership of 54 runs with Bravo took almost 29 overs and took West Indies closer to safety.
And, when Ishant took his third wicket of the ininngs shortly after Bravo scored a well-deserved half-century off 120 balls, India were back in with a chance of winning the match. After Chanderpaul's exit, the onus fell on Bravo and Marlon Samuels, who top-scored with 78* in West Indies's first innings, to steer the hosts towards safety. But, Ishant trapped Samuels plumb in front when he was late bringing his bat down to a length ball that came in to leave West Indies 132 for five. But, the partnership between Bravo and Baugh steered the hosts towards safety before two quick wickets fell and just when it appeared the match was headed for an exciting finish, bad light intervened as West Indies salvaged a draw and this result should do wonders for their confidence ahead of next week's series-decider.
Earlier, India batted for only 12 overs in the morning session and West Indies pacer Fidel Edwards, who picked up his ninth five-for in Tests even as VVS Laxman missed out on a century for the second time in the match. Virat Kohli, who has been dropped from India's Test squad for the England series, had added only one run to his overnight score of 26, when Edwards got him to edge a loose drive to Sammy at second slip in the second over of the day; and the same combination was in action six overs later to deny Laxman a well-deserved century.
Laxman, who had made 85 in India's first innings total of 201, was furious with himself after he had edged a length ball to be dismissed for a classic Test knock of 87 in 188 balls, which could make for a case study in the art of batting under tough conditions. Edwards then had Dhoni caught by Chanderpaul at mid-off as the Indian skipper's poor form with the bat in the series continued - he has scored only 23 runs in four innings at an average of 5.75 in the Caribbean. It was then Raina's turn to face the Edwards music and the southpaw was in visible discomfort dealing with his bounce and variation. Raina clearly wanted to accelerate the scoring but was unable to and was 12 not out off 30 balls while Harbhajan Singh was 6 not out at the time of declaration. Edwards (8-132 in the match) finished with 5-76; Ravi Rampaul had taken Murali Vijay's wicket on Friday.
The third and last Test match of the series will be played at Roseau from July 6, and victory there would not only see India wrap up their second away straight Test series win against West Indies, but it will also make this the first Indian team to win a Test and one-day international series in the Caribbean.
BRIEF SCORES: India 201 (Laxman 85, Raina 53, Rampaul 3-38, Bishoo 3-46) and 269/6 declared (Laxman 87, Dravid 55, Edwards 5-76) Drew with West Indies 190 (Samuels 78*, Chanderpaul 37, Ishant 6-55, Mithun 2-34) and 202/7 (Bravo 73, Baugh 46*, Ishant 4-53).
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