India stop West Indies for 204 as Ishant shines

West Indies 204 (Baugh 60, Bravo 50,
Ishant 5-77) v India
West Indies' spirited counterattack wasn't
enough to prevent India from retaining
control of the third Test that had threatened
to be a damp squip on the opening day, but
was brought to life under blue skies and
bright sunshine on the second. Carlton
Baugh batted with typical Caribbean flair to
infuse fluency in the West Indies innings
after it appeared to stagnate against a
determined Indian pace attack in good
batting conditions. His partnership with
Darren Bravo rescued the hosts from the
depths of 99 for 5, but India hit back. Ishant
Sharma removed Bravo and cleaned up the
tail to pick up another five-for to continue a
successful series. Harbhajan Singh dislodged
Baugh to become only the 11th bowler -
and the third Indian - to take 400 Test
wickets.
More to follow ...
Lunch West Indies 128 for 5 (Bravo 41*,
Baugh 19*, Praveen 2-22) v India
India's bowlers kept the pressure on West
Indies, dislodging Shivnarine Chanderpaul
and Marlon Samuels before lunch and
showing discipline and accuracy on a track
still good for batting. Bright sunshine
greeted the start of play, which was delayed
due to a drizzle, and unlike the first day
when the players left for lunch with the
threat of rain looming large, blue skies
promised a longer contest on the second.
West Indies' progress was slow - the packed
off-side fields contributed to that - and each
of India's seamers bowled determinedly to
create chances, and ensured the advantage
rested with them in this stop-start Test.
Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo had batted
solidly on the first morning to help West
Indies rebuild from 35 for 3. Today, they
were tested early during their stay with
Munaf Patel assuming a lead role with the
ball, as Ishant Sharma had done the day
before. Munaf made the batsmen play more
than his seam-bowling partners, pegging
away at the off stump and altering his
lengths well. He got Chanderpaul to sway
out of a bouncer, drew him into steering
him past gully, angled the ball across the left-
handers and eventually got his reward. In
his fourth over of the day, he dismissed
Chanderpaul by forcing him to play at a
short-of-a-length delivery that moved away
just enough to produce a tickle to birthday
boy MS Dhoni.
Bravo's innings appeared to stagnate
following Chanderpaul's dismissal, and the
7-2 and 8-1 fields employed by Dhoni didn't
help his cause as firm shots on the off side
usually found a fielder. After almost running
out Chanderpaul at one point, Bravo played
out two consecutive maidens from Praveen
Kumar and ceded floor to his partners.
At the other end, Samuels was given a
working over from Munaf, who woke him
up with a blow to the helmet and followed
up superbly with a fullish delivery that was
edged short of gully. In what was shaping
up to be a keen contest, Samuels latched on
when Munaf pitched up in his next over,
driving him through mid-off and point for
boundaries. His innings was cut short with a
lazy shot, lacking any intent, when he hung
his bat at a shortish delivery from Praveen
and dragged it back onto the stumps.
In the few overs before lunch, however,
Bravo and Carlton Baugh, and the
introduction of spin, infused the innings
with some fluency. The field opened up for
Bravo on the off side and his imperious
drive on the up against Ishant Sharma was
the highlight of West Indies' innings on the
day. The busy player that is Baugh slog-
swept Harbhajan Singh for a six and the the
pair duly dispatched part-timer Suresh
Raina's long-hops through the off side to
help West Indies cover some ground after
being kept quiet for a majority of the
session.