India's Ajay Ratra is beaten by Cameron Cuffy during yesterday's second day's play.Tony Becca, senior sport editor
PORT OF SPAIN:
INDIA IMPROVED their chances of winning the second Test of the Cable & Wireless Series against the West Indies at Queen's Park Oval yesterday with a wonderful performance on another day of riveting action.
When play resumed on the second day, India, on 262 for four with Sachin Tendulkar on 113 and V.V.S. Laxman on 21, were out in front and minutes before the end, with their score on 179 for three and top batsmen Brian Lara and captain Carl Hooper in full flow, the West Indies appeared on top.
When bad light stopped play at 5.54 with eight overs remaining, however, the West Indies were on 197 for six, and with only Hooper of the specialist batsmen still around, India were back on top.
In a dramatic finish, in a surprising twist after Lara and Hooper were going great guns and reeling off some scintillating strokes, India picked up three wickets in nine deliveries with left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan cutting down Lara - caught by wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra for 52 at 179 for four, and Javagal Srinath, in one over, removing Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Junior Murray, both leg before wicket, one for one and one for zero to make it 180 for five.
The West Indies' apparent good position at the start was due mainly to some skilful bowling by pacer Cameron Cuffy who led the charge as the West Indies moved in on India and knocked off their remaining six wickets for the addition of 77 runs, and before the brilliance of Lara and Hooper, to some glorious strokes by opening batsman Stuart Williams as the West Indies hopped to 50 without loss in 9.1 overs.
With Adam Sanford and Marlon Black picking up two wickets each, the fastest of the West Indies bowlers played their part in pulling the reins on India's batsmen.
The toast, however, was the giant from St. Vincent. It was he who cut down the dangerous, well-set Tendulkar, picked off Ratra immediately afterwards and exposed a tail that was not good enough to stick around with Laxman whose undefeated 69 in 194 minutes off 123 deliveries included 11 sparkling boundaries.
Moving the ball both ways off the seam, Cuffy bowled consecutive superb deliveries to the Indian master and that was that.
The first pitched outside off stump, Tendulkar shouldered arms, the ball hit the left pad outside the off stump, and umpire Ashoka deSilva said no to the bellowing appeal.
The next one was bang on target, however, Tendulkar went inside, attempted to play to leg, missed, and was leg before wicket at 276 for five.
Ratra's dismissal was straightforward. The batsman, who is described as competent, edged to wicketkeeper Junior Murray at 282 for six when a perfectly pitched delivery cut away off the seam.
When the West Indies batted, Williams and Chris Gayle started shakily. They played and missed, they edged to third man to get off the mark, and the thud of ball on pad echoed around the ground as pacers Srinath and left-hander Ashish Nehra beat them time and time again before Gayle, playing slightly to leg against Srinath, lobbed a catch to Shiv Surender Das at short extra-cover.
Unlike Gayle who, but for one confident stroke off his hip against Nehra, never got going or even looked like getting going, Williams recovered from his feeble start, played some good shots, including two lovely pulls off left-handed pacer Zaheer Khan, and was striking the ball nicely when he leaned forward to offspinner Harbhajan Singh, to the last delivery to tea, and stroked a catch at Das at forward short-leg.
That was 70 for two, Singh was on a spot, and with Lara playing and missing and the Indians shouting appeals for leg before wicket, the contest was on. In fact, it was nicely balanced when Ramnaresh Sarwan, after a few delicate drives, followed a widish delivery from Nehra and presented Rahul Dravid with a simple catch at first slip.
That was 136 for three, and the West Indies, scheduled to bat last after winning the toss and sending to India, were far from comfortable.
Lara and Hooper were in the pink of form, however, they thrilled the fans with some delicate strokes - such as Lara's handful down to the third man and backward point boundaries, with some elegant ones - such as Hooper's drive through mid-on off pacer Sanjay Bangar, and when the left-handed Lara eased his right foot down the pitch and square drove Singh, when Hooper eased forward and drove the feared offspinner to the long-on boundary, the West Indies were riding high.
Suddenly, however, Lara, who was beaten by a beauty that left him in the previous over from the left-hander, went back to Khan, opened the face of his bat and was gone; Chanderpaul, going inside to work the ball behind square leg, missed and was gone; and Murray, going forward to Srinath, missed and was gone.
It could have been one wicket worse for the West Indies. Dillon, on four, was lucky when Das at short leg dropped him off the inspired Srinath.
