India enjoy day three exchanges

Jul 09, 2011 Sports

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By Sean Devers
in Dominica
In association with
Digicel & Queensway

Half centuries from Abhinav Mukund, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni piloted India to a good position against the West Indies at the end of the third day of the third and final Test at Windsor Park yesterday.
The 21-year-old Mukund stroked eight fours in his 148-ball 60 and added 98 for the third wicket with 36-year-old Laxman who made 56 from 129 balls with three fours as India, replying to the West Indies’ 204, reached 308-6 by the close, enjoying a lead of 104 going into the penultimate day with four wickets standing.
Skipper MS Dhoni and India’s ODI Captain Suresh Raina then featured in a 103-run sixth wicket stand after Tea to put the visitors in control to try and force a historic win in a match in which over a day’s play has already been lost to rain.
The 24-year-old Raina (50) continued his good form with his third fifty in the series before he was trapped leg before by Fidel Edwards at 275-6 with the first ball with the second new ball in the closing stages of the match.
Dhoni, who just managed 27 runs in his four innings in the series, struck three boundaries in his unbeaten 65 to register his 21st half-century as Edwards (2-80) and Sammy (2-48) were the most successful bowlers on the third day.
For the first day of the match the sun was out in all its glory and the horn-blowing, flag-waving fans provided a wonderful atmosphere at the World’s newest Test venue.
When crowd favorite Shivnarine Chanderpaul (bowling for the first time in a Test match since June 2007 in England) had Laxman cleverly stumped by Carlton Baugh at 172-5 to claim his ninth Test wicket, the fair size crowd was as ecstatic as Chanderpaul.
Earlier, play began in sunny conditions at 09:30hrs and even without Ravi Rampaul who was ill and remained at the Hotel for most of the day, West Indies struck in the day’s third over when Murali Vijay (5) was caught behind off Edwards at 13-1.
Raul Dravid, who has scored four of his 32 centuries against West Indies, joined Mukund against the new ball attack of Edwards and Sammy.
With the score on 18 and Dravid on five, the small crowd erupted as Sammy breached Dravid’s defence and scattered his stumps to leave the Indians in early trouble. Laxman joined the left-handed Mukund and the pair steadied the Indian ship with a carefully constructed partnership which took the visitors, only needing a draw for their third series win on 11 tours to the Caribbean, to 102-2 by Lunch.
Kirk Edwards, who has never bowled a ball in First-Class cricket, bowled four overs of innocuous medium pace in the two and a half-hour opening session to give his unrelated namesake Fidel Edwards and Sammy some rest in the absence of Rampaul who is expected to bowl today.
Mukund missed his maiden half-century in Barbados but got to fifty in his third Test match from 132 balls and 147 minutes just before Lunch. At the interval he was on 52, Laxman on 30 and the partnership worth 84 runs.
After Lunch Mukund was taken at short leg as Devendra Bishoo ended the 98-run partnership at 116-3 but 22-year-old former Indian under-19 Captain Virat Kohli and Laxman joined forces in extremely humid conditions on a very good track for batting
while Laxman, who has been playing at this level since he made his debut against South Africa in 1996 showed his vast experience, Kohli, in only his third Test gained confidence as his innings progressed and looked a lot more comfortable on a track with less bounce than the ones in Jamaica and Barbados.
With the partnership on 52, Kohli, who hit two fours in his 52-ball 30, was given caught behind down the leg side off Sammy at 168-4.
When Laxman carelessly lifted his back foot as he played no shot to a wide leg break and was stumped after Baugh waited until Laxman’s foot had left the ground to remove the bails, the roar from the crowd was deafening.
It was difficult to decide if Chanderpaul or his hundreds of adoring fans were celebrating Laxman’s demise with more delight. Chanderpaul’s break-through was an important one since Laxman looked well set for his 17th Test century against the depleted West Indies attack.
Raina (9) and Dhoni (4) saw India to Tea at 182-5 and for the first time in the series there was a genuine ‘buzz’ among the crowd.
‘Rally round the West Indies’ by Trinidadian Calypsonian David Rudder was lustily being sung in between overs with the accompaniment of two fans with a drum and trumpet.
After the break Raina stroked the ball around fluently and along with his captain carried India 275 with easy runs against a tired looking bowling attack before Edwards removed Raina to break the partnership.
With Rampaul off and Sammy not one hundred percent fit, Harbhajan Singh (12*) threw his bat around and along with Dhoni who ended the day 15 short of his fifth Test ton, saw India to the close.
Play starts at 09:30hrs today and India will look for a lead of over 200 and declare while the West Indies will want to polish off the innings in the opening session. An intriguing day is anticipated today.
Scores: India 308 for 6 (Dhoni 65*, Mukund 62, Laxman 56, Raina 50) lead West Indies 204 by 104 runs.

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