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.
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.
Harbhajan takes 400th Test wicket
ROSEAU: India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh became the 11th bowler in history to capture 400 Test wickets in the rain-hit third Test against West Indies on Thursday. Harbhajan, playing in his 96th Test, bowled Carlton Baugh for 60 about an hour and 20 minutes after lunch on the rain-affected second day at Windsor Park to achieve the milestone. Harbhajan has not been his penetrative-best throughout the three-Test series in the Caribbean, and seemed to look to the heavens in relief, when he captured the wicket, which brought to an end a counter-attack innings from Baugh that ushered West Indies past the 200-run mark. He received a standing ovation from teammates in the players’ viewing area in the Billy Doctrove Pavilion, and pats of approval from teammates on the field. Only former captains Anil Kumble (619) and Kapil Dev (434) have taken more wickets for India than Harbhajan. He is also the fourth spin bowler to take 400 wickets, following in the footsteps of fellow off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka, whose 800 scalps are the most in Tests, Australia’s Shane Warne (708) and Kumble. AFP
