Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport
India's captain Rahul Dravid jumps into the arms of Yuvraj Singh (left), while wicketkeeper Mahendra Dhoni (right) congratulates spinner Anil Kumble (second right) and other team members celebrate their victory over the West Indies on Day Three of the fourth Test in the Digicel series at Sabina Park yesterday. Kumble took 6-78 in the tourists' 49-run win. - JUNIOR DOWIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A SIX-WICKET haul by master Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble saw the tourists through to a hard-earned and deserved 1-0 Digicel Test series victory over the West Indies yesterday at Sabina Park in the fourth and final match.
Having been on the precipice of victory in two of the three preceding Tests, the Indians finally got that elusive win by 49 runs in a thrilling final session on Day Three. It was their first series win in the Caribbean since 1971.
Batting first in the match they made 200 and then bowled out the Windies for a paltry 103. Second time around they made 171 and then yesterday bundled out the home team for 219.
Despite a tremendous late rally from keeper Denesh Ramdin, who was left stranded on 62 (eight fours, one six), the day belonged to Kumble who just kept chipping away at the Windies' line-up and finished with figures 6-78 off 22.4 overs on a pitch which showed some uneven bounce throughout the three days.
The West Indies fast bowlers did exactly what they had to in the first session yesterday - bowl India out without allowing the tourists to score freely.
Resuming at 128 for six and with an overall lead of 225, skipper Rahul Dravid, on 62, and his staunch first innings ally Kumble, two, showed little inclination to push the advantage and that could have proved costly as steady Corey Collymore (5-48 off 24.1 overs) and local hero Jerome Taylor (4-45, for match figures of 9-95) wrapped up the last four wickets with only 43 runs added to the total.
Kumble (10) was caught at third slip by Bravo off Collymore for 10, Dravid was bowled by a ball that kept low from the same bowler for 68 while Sreesanth (16) and Harbhajan Singh (nine) gave Lara his third and fourth catches of the innings off Taylor and Collymore respectively, while failing to advance the score from 171.
Munaf Patel was undefeated on nought. Sreesanth provided the only real wag in a limp tail with a six over long on off Taylor.
With about half an hour to negotiate before lunch and chasing 269 to win, hometown opener Chris Gayle completed a wretched Test pair when he snicked the second ball of the innings from Sreesanth to V.V.S. Laxman in the slips.
Lara and Ganga held on to lunch and carried the score to 18-1 before it all started to go horribly wrong for the West Indies.
Feisty Sreesanth, soon after the long break, went straight through Ganga's defence to bowl the opener for 10 with the score at 27 and in the next over, with only two more runs on the board, fellow seamer Patel struck a critical blow when he trapped skipper Lara in front of the stumps for 11.
It was then left to the Guyanese pair of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul to right the listing ship. However, the wily Kumble unlocked what was appearing to be a dangerous partnership in his second over of the day, trapping Chanderpaul leg before for 13 with the score at 56.
The famous maroon flag was still flying when all-rounder Dwayne Bravo joined Sarwan and the pair took on the Indians' spin attack of Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag and reached the tea break at 85-4.
Bravo pulled Singh imperviously for a boundary to the Kingston Cricket Club stand while Sarwan on-drove Kumble to the Headley Stand fence in the two shots of the session.
The pair resumed where they left off after the break and batted with a confidence which showed the bouncy pitch was not as devilish as other batsmen had made it out to be and cracking square and cover drives by both brought the small crowd back into the game.
Sarwan brought up his half century (51) with a beautiful four through point off Sreesanth but the seamer wreaked his revenge in the same over when he induced Sarwan to edge to Dravid in the slips - ending a partnership of 70, the Windies' best of the match.
Bravo fell virtually straight after for 33 playing a wild slog off Kumble, who had been reintroduced at the "Construction" End, and had his stumps rattled with the score at 128.
Marlon Samuels completed a miserable game for the two Jamaican batsmen when he was leg before to Kumble for five after a first innings knock of two at 144-7 - that gave he and Gayle a combined aggregate of seven.
Taylor's neat cameo of 20 (almost treble that of his compatriots in one knock) came to an end when Kumble also snared him lbw at 180 after he had just played a fine off drive for four.
The enterprising Ramdin tried to farm the strike from Collins and raised hopes of an impossible victory but Kumble got Collins in the day's penultimate over lbw for three at 219 and then followed that up with the series winning wicket of Collymore, caught by keeper Mahendra Dhoni, two balls later.
It was pure joy for India and yet more heartbreak for the West Indies.
For his two half centuries, Dravid was named Man of the Match and for sustained excellence during the series, the Man of that as well.
SCOREBOARD
INDIA 1st Innings 200
(R Dravid 81; J Taylor 5-50)
WEST INDIES 1st Innings 103 (D Ganga 40; H Singh 5-13)
INDIA 2nd Innings (overnight 128 for 6)
W. Jaffer c sub (Morton) b Taylor 1
V. Sehwag lbw b Taylor 4
VVS Laxman c Lara b Collymore 16
R. Dravid b Collymore 68
Yuvraj Singh c Lara b Collymore 13
M. Kaif b Collins 6
+M. Dhoni b Taylor 19
A. Kumble c Bravo b Collymore 10
Harbhajan Singh c Lara b Collymore 9
Sreesanth c Lara b Taylor 16
M. Patel not out 0
Extras: (b4, lb3, w1, nb1) 9
TOTAL: (all out 69.1 overs) 171
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-6, 3-49, 4-63, 5-76, 6-122, 7-141, 8-154, 9-191, 10-171.
Bowling: Collins 22-8-61-1 (nb1), Taylor 15-4-45-4, Collymore 24.1-9-48-5, Bravo 4-1-10-0 (w1).
WEST INDIES 2nd Innings
C. Gayle c Laxman b Sreesanth 0
D. Ganga b Sreesanth 16
B. Lara lbw b Patel 11
R. Sarwan c Dravid b Sreesanth 51
S. Chanderpaul lbw b Kumble 13
M. Samuels lbw b Kumble 5
D. Bravo b Kumble 33
+D. Ramdin not out 62
J. Taylor lbw b Kumble 20
P. Collins lbw b Kumble 3
C. Collymore c wk Dhoni b Kumble 0
Extras: (lb2, nb3) 5
TOTAL: (all out - 69.4 overs) 219
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-27, 3-29, 4-56, 5-126, 6-128, 7-144, 8-180, 9-219, 10-219.
Bowling: Sreesanth 15-2-38-3, Patel 12-2-26-1, Harbhajan Singh 16-6-65-0, Kumble 22.4-3-78-6 (nb3), Sehwag 4-0-10-0.
Result: India won by 49 runs with two days remaining.
Series: India win 1-0
Man-of-the-Match: Rahul Dravid.
Man-of-the-Series: Rahul Dravid.
Umpires: Rudi Koertzen, Brian Jerling. TV replays: Norman Malcolm.
Match referee: Jeff Crowe.
