Hooper, Chanderpaul rally Windies

The West Indies ended the first day of the opening Test of the five-Test series on 270-4, at the Bourda in Georgetown.

Skipper Carl Hooper, who scored his maiden Test hundred on his home-ground in a career spanning 15 years, was involved in century partnerships with Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnaraine Chanderpaul - this one unbeaten -- as the hosts coasted to a position of relative comfort at the end of day one.

On a wicket where the odd ball tends to stay low, India has to bat last - a daunting thought given the good start made by the home team.

Morning session

India has never lost a Test in Georgetown. It has never won a Test here either, all five Tests being played at the venue having ended in draws.

The venue has a history of rain-ruined games - a total of seven days having been lost in the last three Tests between these two sides here.

Today was a scorcher, with the sun out in force, beating down on a flat track. The Indians started their Carribbean tour with a series of compromises.

Thus, shoulder injury kept Harbhajan Singh out of the team list, and Sarandeep Singh, rushed over from India to fill in, was drafted into the playing eleven. Secondly, India opted to play Deep Dasgupta as wicket-keeper opener - a move that rubbishes the picking of Wasim Jaffer as specialist opener, and Ajay Ratra as specialist keeper, in one shot.

All-rounder Sanjay Bangar made the cut as fifth bowler, edging out Ashish Nehra. Meanwhile, the hosts reconsidered their plan of going in with four seamers, and picked a lineup of three seam bowlers backed by Guyanese leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo.

Adam Sanford, the first Carib Indian to play for the West Indies, was picked ahead of Marlon Black, with skipper Carl Hooper waxing eloquent about the pace the youngster from Dominica supposedly generates.

India got off to a bad start in the field, with Javagal Srinath spraying it around in his first over and getting taken for two fours by the left-handed Chris Gayle. Bowling partner Zahir Khan, for his part, tried for pace and ended up overstepping twice in his first over (in a total of 11 no balls bowled by him), and was taken for fours by both Stuart Williams and Gayle.

Srinath, who in a career lasting over a decade is ironically playing a Test on Caribbean soil for the first time, steadied himself and struck in his third over with one that hit middle and off and seamed away to take Gayle's edge through to Dasgupta for 12. (21/1) Srinath then trapped Stuart Williams in front with a delivery that pitched outside off and struck the opener on the front foot. Umpire Darryl Harper gave that one, and Williams had to walk for 13 in a team score of 37/2.

The wicket had come shortly after Williams first square drove Srinath, then cracked an off drive past Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly, who played spectator.

The wicket of Williams was greeted with loud applause - the Bourda crowd celebrating the entry of Brian Lara for his first international game in five months. Srinath, fired by the presence of the master batsman, produced a dream spell of ten deliveries that repeated tested Lara around off stump, needled him with a bouncer, and seamed the ball away past the bat.

Srinath's 11th ball to Lara moved a fraction off the seam, and ended up in Dasgupta's gloves. Harper upheld the huge appeal, and Lara grimaced his way back to the pavilion for a duck. Replays confirmed the reason for the grimace - there was daylight between bat and ball, and the sound Harper had heard was bat hitting pad (44/3).

The very next ball from Srinath cut in sharply and took the inside edge of skipper Carl Hooper's bat. Dasgupta dived in vain, to register the first missed chance of the innings. A while later, in the 18th over of the innings, Hooper edged again. This time VVS Laxman, at second slip, failed to move for what was an easy chance.

The Indian seam attack had overall been rather indisciplined - permitting the home team 9 boundaries as the runs proliferated. However, by virtue of the three wickets picked up, the tourists appeared to have won the honors in the morning session.

Post Lunch session

The tentative Hooper of the morning session yielded place to an assured avtaar in the afternoon. A fluent hook off Srinath for four to bring up his half-century had the Windies skipper smiling, and the Indians mourning the two missed chances.

At the other end, Ramnaresh Sarwan batted in a fashion that underlined why he is being rated an up-and-comer in contemporary cricket. A watertight defence and fluent driving are the hallmarks of the 22-year-old Guyanese, and he brings a sound temperament to the crease as an added asset.

In the initial period after lunch, Srinath produced a spell of five overs for just 3 runs, while Bangar at the other end produced ten overs of controlled, if essentially harmless, seam bowling. The run-scoring was pegged back during this period, which the Windies batsmen used to get their eye in.

The combine racked up 111 runs for the fourth wicket, helping the home side consolidate. For his part, Saurav Ganguly forgot that he had an off spinner named Sarandeep Singh in his side, waking up to that fact only in the 47th over. By then, even Bangar had bowled 10 overs.

Sarandeep hit line and length straight off and kept Sarwan, then one shy of his 50, on tenterhooks. Kumble kept the pressure going, diving headlong to stop a straight drive by Sarwan off his own bowling. Finally, the edgy batsman got his single, and his 50, off Sarandeep when the offie drifted one a bit down leg side. Anil Kumble's luck ran out when he trapped Sarwan bang in front only for umpire Ashoka D'Silva to shake his head no. Meanwhile, Zahir Khan, who was erratic in his morning spell, showed that he was versatile in that he could be equally erratic after lunch as well.

The West Indies went in to tea at 155/3, with the Sarwan-Hooper partnership assuming threatening proportions.

Post Tea session

Sarwan has a thing for half centuries - he has 10 of them so far. This particular essay ended when he danced down and blasted Sarandeep Singh down the throat of Zahir Khan at mid off.

And at that point, it seemed as though India could yet again take control. But as so often in the past, the visitors stepped back from the confrontation, allowed the batting side to settle back, and in the process, lost both the plot, and the initative.

Chanderpaul and Hooper, looking to break the bowlers' dominance, went ballistic in one Sarandeep over, slamming three fours while racking up 15 runs. The offie's previous 7 overs, it needs to be noted, had cost a mere 10 runs. Chanderpaul, obviously looking to hit the offie off line on a track taking spin and keeping occasionally low, then tore into Sarandeep in the next over, with consequtive boundaries through point. Kumble tried switching ends and bowling round the wicket. Chanderpaul countered with a sweep. An attempted encore found the top edge, but there was no fielder around to take the catch.

With both batsmen in aggressive mood, the 50-run partnership came up off 61 balls. Kumble received special attention from Hooper - a pull to a short one, a cover drive to one pitched up, then a straight six took the Windies skipper to 96.

The enigmatic Hooper then brought up his 11th Test century and first on home soil with a square drive off Kumble. And the run fest continued.

India's skipper seemed bereft of ideas, as can be seen for instance in his bowling changes. Consider that Hooper had faced 56 deliveries of Bangar's and 83 of Kumble's, while Srinath, Zahir and Sarandeep together had bowled a mere 68 deliveries to the century maker, and it becomes apparent that the captain was content for long periods to just try and stem the pace of run-making, without however looking to attack Hooper. The omission was all the more glaring considering how tentative Hooper was in the pre-lunch session.

Bangar bowled a decent line - but decent lines that look good in ODIs do not have the same effect in Tests. Thus, the all-rounder kept the runs down, bowling to a 7-2 field that was later shifted to 8-1, but at no point (after the early missed chance) did he look like taking a wicket.

Chanderpaul meanwhile looked in prime touch, coasting to a half-century and playing his part in a superb 113-run unbeaten partnership with his captain (batting 108) off just 163 balls. That kind of run-making speed not only put Windies on the road to comfort at 270/4, but seized the initiative completely from the bowling side. At close, both Hooper and Chanderpaul looked as though they could bat forever - a perception that is mirrored in Hooper's ominous end of play comment that he hoped to see his team make "at least 400" to put pressure on India.

Interestingly, Ganguly refrained from taking the second new ball though towards the dying moments of play both Hooper and Chanderpaul were tired and looking to play out time. The Indians preferred to bowl Bangar, Kumble and Sarandeep in the final ten overs of the day - and the only good thing that can be said about it is that the new ball remains to be taken, tomorrow morning.

Detailed scorecard