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Despite putting up a challenging total, India were forced on the defensive by a determined effort from the West Indian batsmen who put their team in a strong position on the fourth day of the second cricket Test here.

India were all out for 218 in their second innings which, combined with their 94-run first innings lead, set West Indies a target of 313, certainly a difficult task for a team batting fourth.

But West Indian batsmen led by Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan showed no signs of pressure and batted with a lot of patience to take their team's total to 131 for two at close on the penultimate day yesterday.

West Indies now need 182 runs to go 1-0 up in the five-match series with one full day left and Lara going strong on 40. Skipper Carl Hooper was the other not out batsman, on one, after Sarwan was dismissed about 15 minutes before close for a well-made 41.

The Indians must be rueing their missed opportunity of scoring a few more runs in their second innings. Their last six wickets fell for a mere 13 runs and skipper Sourav Ganguly was left unbeaten on a solid 75 after he ran out of partners.

After Ganguly and V V S Laxman had done all the hard work in pulling the team out of trouble from 56 for four and taking the side to a position of strength, it was an anti-climax for the Indian innings as wickets fell in a heap towards the end.

The slide started when Laxman, who resumed at his overnight 60, was out after adding 14 runs to his score in the morning. Laxman played on to his stumps while attempting a cut shot against Mervyn Dillon which brought to an end a fine innings which lasted for close to four hours and included nine boundaries.

Ganguly, who had put on 149 runs for the fifth wicket with Laxman, then found no support from the tailenders who made a beeline back to pavilion, unable to handle the new ball attack. From 205 for four, India slumped to 218 all out in no time.

The target of 313 was nevertheless quite formidable and Javagal Srinath made it tougher for West Indies by snapping an early wicket -- Stuart Williams (13). Williams and Gayle had started off confidently and scored fluently before Williams edged to Rahul Dravid at slips. West Indies lost their first wicket at 27 and India went into the attack mode.

But Gayle and Sarwan, who is having a good run in this series, remained unnerved and looked quite composed. The three-pronged Indian pace attack plus off-spinner Harbhajan Singh did have the batsmen in trouble on a couple of occasions but the wicket eluded them.

Sarwan played a few fluent drives and looked very comfortable. But Gayle developed cramps in his arms and retired hurt on 21 when the total was 68. That marked the arrival of Lara and Sarwan grew in confidence in the presence of his illustrious teammate. Sarwan did the bulk of the scoring as Lara slowly settled into rhythm. A swept boundary off Harbhajan Singh by Lara brought up the 100 for the team and runs flowed easily for West Indies after that.

But a rare mistake from Sarwan meant he once again failed to convert a good foundation into a big knock. After making 52 and 35 in the previous two innings, Sarwan was out for 41 this time when he edged a Harbhajan Singh delivery to Rahul Dravid at first slip.

Lara, who in the meanwhile had reached his late thirties, was joined by Hooper and the two most experienced batsmen in the West Indies side saw the remaining day through without any further damage. Earlier, the Indians started the day at their overnight 165 for four with Ganguly and Laxman continuing with their good efforts. Ganguly hit Sanford for a boundary off the first ball he faced, the fourth of the morning, to move from 48 to 52 before rains forced a 40-minute interruption.

On resumption, Ganguly square cut Sanford and drove Hooper for two more boundaries and caught up with Laxman, who did not get much of the strike during this time, on 69. After rushing through the overs by bowling himself and Sarwan in the morning, Hooper took the new ball immediately after it was due and it turned out to be a good move. Laxman flicked Dillon for a boundary to the fine leg fence to move to 74 before he was out.

Laxman attempted a cut shot on a wide delivery from Dillon but was done in by the uneven bounce of the wicket. The ball took the under-edge of his bat and crashed into the stumps as the West Indian team went up in joy.

It was total collapse after that with Ajay Ratra (2) and Harbhajan Singh (0) falling to consecutive balls by Cameron Cuffy. Srinath avoided the hat-trick and played a nice looking shot which earned his two runs but that was all he could produce before snicking a Dillon delivery to Williams in the third slip.

Zaheer Khan made four runs before being run out when he hesitated in responding to a call for a single from his captain and India went into lunch in a sorry state at 218 for nine. It took just one more over to bring the Indian innings to a close. Ashish Nehra was clean bowled by Dillon for nought without a run being scored after the break.

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