Lara leads strong chase for victory

Day Four

Time and again in this second Test, either side has dragged themselves back into contention and then drifted away. At close of play on day four, 182 runs stood between the West Indies and victory -- an incredible one if achieved -- while India were eight wickets away from what will be their third hurrah at the Queen's Park Oval.

With Brian Lara and skipper Carl Hooper unbeaten at the crease, with the West Indies on 131-2, the fifth day promises an intriguing finish.

Morning session

India walked out on the fourth morning with their overnight batters VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly looking to extend the lead to the 300-run mark. Ganguly reached his maiden fifty of the series with a fine leg-glance to the fence in the first over of the day from Adam Sanford. A drizzle stalled proceedings yet again and after four balls, the players walked back to the dressing rooms.

After a 40-minute rain delay, the West Indies took the new ball as the Indian batsmen were untroubled by their bowlers. The move paid off, as VVS Laxman chopped Mervyn Dillon onto his stumps for 74, finally succumbing to the fickle dual-paced nature of the strip. The Laxman-Ganguly combine put together 149 runs for the fifth wicket for the most decisive partnership of the Test. (205-5)

With the Indian lead still a run short of the 300 mark, Laxman had done his job by a tenacious stay at the wicket, in the process registering his third consecutive half-century of the series.

Laxman’s dismissal augmented the value of his partnership with Ganguly, as the lower order of the Indian team crumbled without a trace of a fight. Five wickets fell for the addition of a mere 13 runs to the total.

First up was wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra, who managed to get off the mark but continued with his terrible form with the bat, when he was trapped by Cameron Cuffy in front to a ball that cut in after pitching a good four inches outside off-stump. (210-6)

Off the very next delivery, Cuffy had Harbhajan Singh edging to Chris Gayle at first slip for a duck.

Srinath averted the hat-trick ball but Mervyn Dillon had him, when he was caught at third slip by Stuart Williams, who held on to a breathtaking catch, diving full-length to his right. (213-8)

Off the final ball before lunch, Ganguly dabbed Dillon to mid-off, called Zaheer Khan and set-off for a sharp single; Khan, carelessly following the path of the ball, failed to respond and was half-way down the pitch when Sarwan’s throw to keeper Murray had the bails dislodged. (218-9)

A visibly fuming Ganguly yelled at Zaheer all the way to the pavilion, and rightly so. For once Ganguly was involved in a run-out as the victim.

At lunch, the Indians walked away from the ground with a 312-run lead and a single wicket standing, having scored 218-9. Barring the Brian Lara factor, the lead seems unassailable for a West Indian win. But then, stranger things have happened in cricket.

Post Lunch session:

Seven balls after lunch, the players headed back to the pavilion after the Indian innings folded without any addition to the total of 218.

Mervyn Dillon bowled a straight delivery and Ashish Nehra missed the line of the ball and was castled without scoring. Ganguly was stranded on 75, an innings that deserves the highest accolade for the application exhibited by the skipper under enormous pressure. He had played a similar innings in Sri Lanka last year and India won that Test, its first victory on Sri Lankan soil after nine years.

It would augur well for the Indian team if Ganguly always plays with the same studied application, which would help him up his stock as batsman and skipper, both of which seemed to be on the wane.

And, finally, a word of praise for the Windies bowlers. Mervyn Dillon, Adam Sanford and Cameron Cuffy bowled to a plan, throttling the stroke-play of the Indian batsmen, barring the Laxman-Ganguly combine who adjusted well to the new ball. The Kookaburra balls being used assist swing and seam bowling early on, but as it wears on, turns docile and ineffective and also loses its shape. Dillon picked up four wickets for 42 runs; Cuffy got three for 53 and Sanford two for 46.

West Indies innings:

Stuart Williams slashed at the first delivery from Ashish Nehra and the ball sailed over Ganguly at gully on its way to the fence. The West Indian strategy was plain as the nose on your face: attack the opening bowlers and get the innings off to a flier. The tactic worked initially, with the ball reaching the fence with increasing alacrity as the home side motored on at 4.5 an over.

Indian spearhead Javagal Srinath then pitched one up, slightly outside off, for the ball to take the outer edge of Stuart Williams's bat en route to Rahul Dravid at first slip. (27-1)

India smelt blood in the water and closed in for the kill with attacking fields of three slips and two gullies at one point, but with the exception of the first ball from Harbhajan Singh, which fell short of Sanjay Bangar at point, another breakthrough seemed elusive.

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle grew in confidence, rotating the strike and punishing the loose balls to the fence. They were particularly severe on Zaheer Khan, sending him to the cover and the fine-leg fence.

Heavy showers forced the umpires to take an early tea break with the West Indies on 62 for 1, still 259 runs short of the victory target and nine second inning wickets standing.

Post Tea session:

Gayle and Sarwan batted with serenity beyond their years before running into adversity when the former's left arm was arrested by cramps. Gayle, on 21 off 88 balls, and Sarwan had notched a 41-run partnership for the second wicket.

The Queen's Park Oval was aroused by the advent of Lara to the wicket, who was given a reception reserved for centurions. Playing sedately, Lara and Sarwan wove a painstaking partnership, realising the need to keep wickets in hand. Lara opened his account taking three off Srinath and then got another four past gully.

After drinks, the Indians maintained the pressure for almost four overs before Lara swept Harbhajan to the fine-leg boundary to get to the West Indian hundred. Victory was still 210 runs away.

At 106-4, Lara drove to mid-on and set-off for a single, then stopped in his tracks and sent Sarwan back with Tendulkar's throw missing the stumps by a few inches. A half-chance had come and gone abegging.

Sarwan, barring an extravagant shot he tried through covers and missed, was the epitome of confidence, stamping his class with a piercing cover drive off Srinath and then a straight one off Zaheer Khan.

Just as the West Indies seemed to be walking away with the match, Harbhajan, as always, got India the crucial breakthrough. The young Sikh floated one outside off which moved just a shade from Sarwan, who steered it into the safe hands of Dravid at first slip.

Having batted for 109 balls, Sarwan departed for 41 after sharing a second wicket stand of 98 runs with Lara. (125-2)

Hooper (1) and Lara (40) stayed put at the wicket before taking the light offered by the umpires with 16 overs yet to be bowled. The Indian team stayed back on the field hoping for the light to improve and give themselves a couple of more overs at the West Indian batsmen.

Detailed Scoreboard

Day 3
Day 2
Day 1