Sarwan disappointed to miss out on maiden century

Ramnaresh Sarwan cracked a valuable 60 against India on Friday that helped the West Indies take control of the third Test but remains disappointed that he missed out on an elusive Test hundred.

It was the 11th half-century for the Guyanese, who is yet to reach three figures in 20 Test matches.

"I am disappointed and it's just unfortunate," he said. "I got another fifty but could not carry on."

It was the second half-century of the series for Sarwan, who had also played a crucial role when scoring 53 in the first Test at Georgetown last month that ended in a draw.

"I'm pretty pleased about the way I'm batting right now. I hope sometime during the season I'll be able to convert one of those fifties into a hundred."

Sarwan shared in a 119-run stand for the third wicket with Brian Lara, who chipped in with 55.

The 21-year-old said he didn't want to let the elusive Test hundred prey on his mind.

"The century has been on my mind for a while and I keep getting reminded about it. But I don't want it to prey on me. I just want to concentrate on my batting and the runs will come."

Sarwan, criticised for getting out to bad shots after being set, said he felt a loss of concentration was the reason for his demise.

LOSING CONCENTRATION

"I would say the main reason for my getting out is lack of concentration, coupled with bad shot selection at times," he said.

"I will have to look at every innings, at the way that I'm batting. I seem to be scoring a lot of my runs straight down the wicket early, but in the latter part of my innings I start to hit the ball a lot squarer.

"That could be one of the reasons for my downfall."

Captain Carl Hooper and left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul also struck unbeaten half-centuries on Friday as the West Indies, who had bowled out India for a meagre 102, took control of the Test reaching 314 for four by close of the second day's play.

"I'll take the 60 because it could have been a lot worse and I helped the team do well," Sarwan said.

"We are in a really good position. There are three more days left and by lunch tomorrow we hope to post a lead of 300 and take it from there."

But Sarwan felt it would be challenging for the West Indian bowlers to get India out quickly on a wicket that is getting easier to bat on as the match progresses.

"As the days go by the wicket will get easier to bat on, so it will be challenging for our bowlers," Sarwan said.

"But it's turning a bit...Harbhajan (Singh) has turned quite a few and (Zaheer) Khan can play a big part also. The first task would be to get a big lead and give the bowlers a good chance."

Scorecard

Also read: Hooper, Chanderpaul make India toil

Mail Cricket Editor