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India’s 16-year drought outside the subcontinent was extended further today when they went down by 155 runs to West Indies in the series-deciding fifth and final cricket Test here.
The defeat was evident yesterday itself when India slumped to 237 for seven while chasing 408 runs to win. It was formalised on the fifth and final day today with the remaining three Indian wickets falling for the addition of 15 runs.
India were all out for 252 in their second innings less than an hour into the morning session following their first innings score of 212. West Indies made 422 and 197 in their two innings.
The 1-2 series loss meant India will have to wait for some more time to try and win their first series win outside the subcontinent since defeating England in 1986. India's next overseas tour is to England later next month.
Faint hopes greeted the Indians in the morning when mild showers began just when play was about to start. But the rains were not heavy enough to disrupt the entire day’s play and the game started after about a 20-minute delay.
West Indies, who had completed 80 overs yesterday, took the new ball straightaway and preferred to bowl their lead bowlers, Mervyn Dillon and Cameron Cuffy, instead of Pedro Collins and Adam Sanford who had taken three wickets each to bring their team within sniffing distance of victory.
Overnight batsmen Ajay Ratra and Zaheer Khan survived the first three overs before Cuffy struck in his second over of the day.
Ratra, who had batted for 86 balls and 111 minutes for his 19 runs, was adjudged leg before wicket by umpire Russel Tiffin of Zimbabwe with the ball coming in sharply and hitting the batsman’s pads in front of the leg stump.
New batsman Javagal Srinath drove Cuffy in the same over for a boundary to long-off and Zaheer Khan glided Dillon to the third man fence in the next over to bring up the 250 for India.
That was about all for the Indians as Srinath was repeatedly troubled by the short-pitched deliveries. He was also hit on his shoulder while trying to duck a delivery from
Cuffy.
Srinath became the second victim of Cuffy when he left a lot of gap between bat and pad to allow the delivery to pass through and hit the middle stump. Srinath scored just four runs.
The last wicket fell in the form of Zaheer Khan in the next over giving Dillon his first wicket of the innings. Zaheer, who scored 12, attempted a wild heave and offered a high catch to Collins at mid-off. The match was over in the ninth over of the day.
This was India’s fifth defeat in eight matches at this ground. They have never won at the venue, the remaining three matches ending in draws. India and West Indies now go into a five-match one-day series starting May 25.
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