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With the match already destined to end in a draw, the fifth and final day of the fourth cricket Test between India and West Indies here saw the formality being enacted out in the most boring of fashion. On a day when India used every single player including wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra to bowl, West Indies progressed from their overnight score of 405 for five to 629 for nine before declaring their innings about an hour before the scheduled close.
 India, who had declared their first innings at 513 for nine, did not come out to bat for the second time and the match was declared a draw. The day saw two more centuries being scored, taking the aggregate in this match to five, in contrasting styles. While Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who remained unbeaten on 136, laboured through his third hundred of the series in a dull manner, wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs’ entertaining 118 off 206 balls with 11 fours and five sixes was the highlight of the day.
The Indians seemed to have given up their efforts early in the day. The bowlers and fielders were content to just go through the motions even as Jacobs was hammering his way through his second Test hundred. Jacobs, who started the day at 18, did the bulk of the scoring till he was at the crease as Chanderpaul, who was on 80 overnight, took nearly the entire morning session to reach his hundred.
Jacobs’ career-best knock completed the turnaround in the batting fortunes of the wicketkeepers of both sides in this series. After they had failed miserably with the bat in the first three games, wicketkeepers on both sides got a century in this match, the first time it has so happened in the history of Test cricket.
Earlier in this Test, Ratra had scored his maiden hundred, remaining unbeaten on 115, while playing his third Test which earned him the man-of-the-match award. With the pitch offering no assistance, the Indian pace trio of Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra was rendered ineffective and even the versatility of Sachin Tendulkar was unable to break the flourishing sixth wicket stand between Chanderpaul and Jacobs which ultimately proved to be worth 166 runs.
 Jacobs reached his century with his fifth six, a huge hit off V V S Laxman over the mid-wicket fence. He had earlier hit Tendulkar for two sixes and Nehra and Ganguly for one each. Meanwhile, Chanderpaul had completed his hundred just before the lunch break with his 15th boundary. The man who was content at merely blocking away the deliveries for the most part of the morning session, suddenly became extravagant and hit four quick boundaries to move from 88 to 106.
But once he reached his century he once again retreated into the shell and remained so till the end of the match by which time he had spent more than 11 hours at the crease. Chanderpaul has now become the second highest scorer in this series, next only to his skipper Carl Hooper, and has an average of over 200 thanks to two unbeaten knocks.
Jacobs was finally dismissed in the final session by Rahul Dravid who became the first of the three Indians to claim their maiden Test wickets. Jacobs was caught by Laxman at mid-wicket while trying for another four which saw Dravid celebrating as if he had won the match for India. But with only academic interest remaining in the match, there was hardly any change in the enthusiasm of the Indians. New batsman Mervyn Dillon tried to take advantage of the slackened approach and blasted a quickfire 43 off 65 balls which included six fours and two sixes before Wasim Jaffer too earned his first Test scalp.
Jaffer added another wicket to his tally when Pedro Collins’ mishit was caught by substitute Harbhajan Singh. It was then Laxman’s turn to grab his first Test wicket when he had Adam Sanford caught by Zaheer Khan at long-on. The Indians decided against coming out to bat in their second innings when West Indies declared their innings, thus bringing an end to the dull proceedings.
The two teams go into the fifth and final Test at Kingston, Jamaica from May 18 with the series tied 1-1. India won the second Test in Port of Spain by 37 runs and West Indies registered a comprehensive 10-wicket victory in the third Test at Barbados.
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