|
 India took a 23-run first innings lead but not before they were made to toil by the West Indian bowlers who brought their side back into the match by dismissing the cream of the Indian batting on the second day of the second cricket Test here today. India finished the rain-affected day at 190 for five with V V S Laxman batting on 18 and Parthiv
Patel on one.
The hosts, who were expected to take a big first innings lead over West Indies' 167, found the going extremely tough on an unpredictable wicket after the dismissal of Virender Sehwag with the total on 93. Sehwag made a sparkling 61 with eight fours and three sixes after India resumed at their overnight 31 without loss in the second session after the first session’s play was not possible due to wet ground conditions following heavy overnight rains.
But once he left, West Indies slowly inched their way back into the match with Mervyn Dillon and debutant Jermaine Lawson coming up with fine spells. Rahul Dravid, who was aiming for a century in his fifth consecutive innings, became the first Test victim of Lawson who produced a beautiful in-swinger to uproot the off-stump of the Indian batsman. Dravid could manage just 11 runs.
Sachin Tendulkar, who became the first batsman to complete 20,000 international runs when he reached 16, and Sanjay Bangar batted resolutely but were out in their forties. India's woes were compounded by the controversial leg before wicket dismissal of skipper Sourav Ganguly. It rained throughout last night here making the outfield very heavy but Sehwag seemed to be having no problems in scoring boundaries after play finally started around noon. Resuming at his overnight 24, Sehwag took three fours off Lawson in the fourth over of the day and quickly moved into his forties before being dropped twice.
Chris Gayle at second slip and Wavell Hinds at forward short leg spilled the chances offered by Sehwag who answered by hitting debutant off-spinner Gareth Breese for two mighty sixes to complete his half-century. Till the time Sehwag was at the crease, the Indian scoreboard moved at a very brisk pace. But his innings was cut short by a very fine delivery from Pedro Collins. Coming round the wicket, Collins got the ball to straighten a bit before it crashed into the off-stump of Sehwag who was also done in by the low bounce of the delivery.
 The dismissal of Sehwag saw the arrival of Dravid who was aiming to equal the world record of Sir Everton Weekes of scoring hundreds in five consecutive Test innings. Dravid started very positively and even came down the track on a few occasions to negotiate the spin of Breese. But he had made just 11, when Lawson produced a gem of a delivery that swung a long way to pierce between the bat and pads of the batsman into the stumps. Tendulkar, who was let off by Shivnarine Chanderpaul off Carl Hooper's bowling when on eight, and Bangar took the score to 134 for two at tea which was extended by half an hour to compensate for the loss of play in the morning session.
It was the last session, also of two and a half hour duration, that saw the Indians being dictated terms by the West Indian bowling. Despite being in a healthy position at tea, Bangar and Tendulkar were surprisingly defensive when play resumed after the break and slowly allowed the bowlers to dominate the proceedings. Dillon, whose first nine overs had cost him just 10 runs, gave two big setbacks to the Indians in his third spell which read 7-3-7-2. Dillon first sent back Bangar who had stubbornly defied the West Indian attack for close to four hours. In an innings typical of him, Bangar faced 171 balls for his 40 and hit just two boundaries before giving a catch to Hooper at the total of 155.
On the next ball, umpire Asoka de Silva of Sri Lanka failed to see a big inside edge off Ganguly’s bat and ruled the batsman leg before wicket. Tendulkar and V V S Laxman added just 25 runs in an excruciatingly slow partnership for the fifth wicket during which India were unable to score a run for six consecutive overs. In a bid to break the shackles, Tendulkar played way away from his body, only succeeding in deflecting the ball on to his stumps to give the second big wicket to Lawson who finished with figures of 2 for 37 from 14 overs.
Scorecard |
