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 India made a drab affair of what could have been an exciting finale to the Test series, opting for a draw in the third and final cricket match against West Indies here today despite having been placed in a position of strength by centurions Sachin Tendulkar and V V S Laxman. Tendulkar and Laxman virtually ruled out a defeat for the home team but India’s declaration of their second innings did not come till late in the final session after reaching a score of 471 for eight.
With a victory target of 333 almost impossible to achieve in the remaining few overs, West Indies, who had scored 497 in their first innings to take a 139-run lead, decided not to come out for their second innings. The draw meant the three-match series, which was already won by India following their wins in Mumbai and Chennai, ended with a 2-0 result in favour of the home team.
Laxman, who put on a record 214 runs in a crucial fifth wicket partnership with Tendulkar, remained unbeaten on 154, his nearly nine-hour knock studded with 17 boundaries. Tendulkar, who had completed his 31st Test hundred yesterday, batted beautifully this morning before being dismissed for 176 shortly after the lunch break. The master batsman faced 298 deliveries and struck 26 fours.
Tendulkar was declared the man-of-the-match while Harbhajan Singh, who picked up 20 wickets from the three Tests, was named the man-of-the series. Earlier, Tendulkar and Laxman, who came together when India were precariously placed at 87 for four, added 104 runs in an extended two-and-a-half hour morning session today to take the score to 299 for four at lunch.
 Tendulkar, who resumed at his overnight 114 in the team score of 195 for four, did the bulk of the scoring in the morning session. He showed a lot of urgency and scored at a very brisk pace which gave an impression that India were looking to declare their innings at around tea time. He hit nine fours in the morning session but also got a life on 171 when he was dropped by Chris Gayle off Jermaine Lawson at point, a short while after the two batsman posted the 200 run partnership.
Laxman, who started from his yesterday's score of 34, was happy playing second fiddle to Tendulkar and reached his half-century with a fine drive between mid-on and long-on against Darren Powell. By lunch, they had already improved on the India's previous best fifth wicket stand of 204 against West Indies by Sunil Gavaskar and Brijesh Patel achieved at Port of Spain in 1975-76.
West Indies skipper Carl Hooper claimed the new ball after the 17th over of the day, 81st of the innings, and used six bowlers but failed to unsettle the Indian batsmen who looked in no discomfort ever. But Tendulkar got out immediately after the lunch break when Chris Gayle came up with a fine catch at wide gully off seamer Cameron
Cuffy. The fall of Tendulkar, when India were leading by 160 runs, put the brakes on the scoring with Laxman and the young wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel batting very cautiously. Laxman, who was on 66 at lunch break, became very defensive in a bid to prevent a collapse. It was only towards the end of the post-lunch session that runs began to come easily once again for India.
Laxman, who took a long time in progressing from 66 to his nineties, hit a boundary to move to 96 before a single brought him within three runs of his fourth Test hundred. He then pulled Carl Hooper to the mid-wicket fence to bring up his second consecutive century at the Eden Gardens just before the tea break. Laxman's previous knock at this ground was the famous 281 against Australia last year.
Patel, who had scored a career-best 47 in the first innings, once again showed remarkable application and played a few fine strokes as India took tea comfortably placed at 369 for five. Despite enjoying a 230-run lead at this moment, India surprisingly did not declare their innings and continued to play after the tea break.
Patel, who defied the West Indian attack for 94 balls, was run out for 27 in the second over after tea. India lost their sixth wicket at 373. Harbhajan enlivened the meaningless proceedings with some lusty hitting during his brief stay at the crease. He blasted three fours and two sixes in his 18-ball knock to make 26 runs before being caught by Hooper off Marlon Samuels.
Javagal Srinath completed his 1,000 Test runs during his 21-run knock as the lower order batsmen showed their skills with the bat. All this while, Laxman was scoring steadily and reached his third 150 of his career. The two teams now go into a seven match one-day series starting in Jamshedpur on Wednesday. |
