West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul acknowledges his century during the third day's play of the third Test between India and West Indies in Calcutta yesterday. -Reuters photoKOLKATA, CMC:
SHIVNARINE CHANDERPAUL stroked a superb sixth Test century and shared in a bossy unbroken 191-run stand with Marlon Samuels as the West Indies took full command against India on the third day of the final Test match at the Eden Gardens Ground yesterday.
The West Indies, responding to India's first innings 358 all out, closed at 446 for five - 88 runs ahead - with Chanderpaul not out on 136 and Samuels on 89.
India, already holding a winning 2-0 series lead, had a couple of successes in the morning, but then ran out of ideas as the rampaging Chanderpaul and Samuels ripped their bowling apart and placed the tourists in an excellent position with two days remaining.
Chanderpaul's century, his fifth against India, pushed him past a remarkable 1,000 Test runs this year, and the 21-year-old Samuels, who has never scored a first-class century, was cruising towards a hundred when poor light ended play 20 minutes before the scheduled close.
Chris Gayle departed 35 minutes into the morning session for 88, adding only eight to his overnight score after the West Indies resumed at 189 for three.
The tall left-hander, missing out on a third Test century, pushed forward defensively to leg-spinner Anil Kumble and the ball squeezed off his glove and pad for Virender Sehwag to snatch an easy catch at forward short leg.
Carl Hooper joined Chanderpaul in a 42-run fifth-wicket stand and the Guyanese pair steered the West Indies past their previous series-best total of 229 in the second innings of the second Test in Chennai.
But the alliance ended when Hooper (19) was brilliantly caught behind one-handed by Parthiv Patel diving full stretch to his right, as the West Indies captain pushed forward and edged Ashish Nehra, bowling the second over with the new ball.
Resuming from a lunch time position of 261 for five, with Chanderpaul on 42 and Marlon Samuels on one, the pair transformed a watchful approach to one of authority.
They flourished with a dominant partnership, the best of the innings, initiated by Chanderpaul hitting three boundaries in one over from Kumble, and banging the star spinner in his next over for a four and a powerful sweep for six over the square leg boundary.
Twenty five minutes before the tea-break, the 28-year-old accomplished his fourth hundred against India this year when he steered veteran pacer Javagal Srinath to backward point for two runs, achieving his century off 183 balls with 11 fours and one six.
Chanderpaul, exhibiting continued affinity for Indian bowling, had scored 562 runs averaging 140 during the five-Test series between the two teams in the Caribbean earlier this year.
Samuels drove a Sachin Tendulkar full toss to deep mid-off shortly after tea for a single that brought up his fifth Test 50, with seven fours, and he unleashed another eight boundaries before the close in a display of fluency, and exquisite strokeplay.
The formidable spinners of Harbhajan Singh and Kumble, who had snared a series-influencing 28 wickets between them in the previous two Tests, were unable to dominate in conditions less favourable than Mumbai and Chennai, and both went for more than a hundred runs.
Harbhajan has figures of three for 101 off 52 overs and Kumble, one for 150 off 47 overs, and for the first time in the series.
The West Indies, beaten by an innings and 112 runs in the first Test, and by eight wickets in the second Test, are now in a position - for the first time in the series -- to put genuine pressure on India's batsmen.
SCOREBOARD
India 1st innings 358
(S.Bangar 77; M.Dillon 3-82)
West Indies 1st innings
(overnight 189 for 3):
C.Gayle c Sehwag b Kumble 88
W.Hinds c Ganguly b Harbhajan 100
R.Sarwan st Patel b Harbhajan 2
M.Dillon b Harbhajan 0
S.Chanderpaul not out 136
C.Hooper c wkp Patel b Nehra 19
M.Samuels not out 89
Extras (lb6, nb6) 12
TOTAL (for 5 wickets) 446
Fall: 1-172, 2-186, 3-186, 4-213, 5-255
To Bat: +R.Jacobs, D.Powell, J.Lawson, C.Cuffy.
Bowling: Srinath 19-3-62-0 (6nb); Nehra 23-9-66-1; Harbhajan 52-15-101-3; Kumble 47-8-150-1; Bangar 6-3-14-0; Tendulkar 7-0-33-0; Sehwag 3-0-14-0.
Toss: India
Umpires: Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka), David Shepherd (England)
Match Referee: Mike Proctor (South Africa)
