Last chance for Tendulkar, Lara

India and the West Indies are looking to their respective batting superstars to tilt the balance in their favour as the two teams go into the fifth and final cricket Test in Kingston, Jamaica, on Saturday, seeking to break the 1-1 deadlock in the series.

The anxiously awaited showdown between Tendulkar and Lara failed to take-off in the first four Tests and the captains of both the teams are hoping the big occasion would spur the two master batsmen to produce their best.

After a good start with scores of 79 and 117 in his first two knocks of the series, Tendulkar has managed only eight runs from his next four innings, having been dismissed for nought three times.

On the other hand, Lara began with a zero, then compiled scores of 52, 47 and 55 before falling to Anil Kumble for four in the fourth Test.

However, the two captains seem least concerned with the below-expectation performances of their star players and feel the series could still live up to the hype if the two geniuses fired in this hour of need for their teams.

"He is a legend; a class act," said Ganguly about Tendulkar. "He has failed, but that's human, and I believe a three-figure knock from him is due in the next innings."

Similarly, Hooper too was quite positive about Lara's chances in this Test.

"We haven't seen the best of Brian or, for that matter, Tendulkar, but I am confident he would fire in Sabina Park," Hooper said.

"If Brian and Sachin fire, it's going to be a fitting finale to a well-contested series.

"Lara is a big match player and he would certainly do something special here," Hooper said. "We have done well in batting but without Lara, I believe, we are yet to fire on all four cylinders."

Despite the absence of any special knock from these two greats, batting seems to be the least of the worries for either of the teams, with V V S Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Ganguly doing a fine job for India and Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul completely dominating the show for the West Indies.

While Hooper and Chanderpaul have struck three centuries each and are the top run-getters in this series, Laxman is the highest scorer so far for India, with an aggregate of 386 runs and a century and three half-centuries, and is closely followed by Dravid, who has 369 runs. Ganguly also had a few good knocks and has so far scored 258 runs.

There's been good news for both teams in the opening department also with Wasim Jaffer and Wavel Hinds coming up with attractive knocks in the fourth Test. There was speculation that India might rest opener Shiv Sunder Das, who has had a miserable series so far, and bring in Sanjay Bangar in his place but there was no confirmation available from the team management.

The fast bowling department was causing a bit of concern in both camps. With each team batting for more than two days in the fourth Test, the bowlers have been overworked and are feeling the strain.

Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra have so far sent down 164, 132 and 144.1 overs respectively. All three had bowled more than 40 overs each in the fourth Test, where the West Indies piled up 629 for nine declared in reply to India's 513 for nine declared.

Ganguly is hoping his fast bowlers will be able to overcome the fatigue in this all-important battle even though the scorching heat at Kingston is likely to test the fittest over the next five days.

Physio Andrew Leipus spent extra time with the three Indian pacemen and said they are responding well to the work schedule.

With Anil Kumble having returned home for surgery on his fractured jaw, which was successfully completed yesterday in Bangalore, Harbhajan Singh will be back in action. The young off-spinner is just one wicket short of completing 100-wickets in Test cricket and would be looking to produce an impressive performance to end an otherwise laclustre series for him.

The West Indian bowlers are in comparatively better shape since they had an extra three-day rest during the fourth Test.

India have never won at Sabina Park, losing four of the seven matches they have played at this venue while drawing the other three.

Mail Cricket Editor