‘Battered’ tourists close to a milestone on India tour

Cricket, the game of glorious uncertainty, lived up to its reputation in the third and final Test here at Eden Gardens on Saturday. After th...

Cricket, the game of glorious uncertainty, lived up to its reputation in the third and final Test here at Eden Gardens on Saturday. After three days of modest and at times boring fare, the fourth day display had the spectators on the edge of their seats.

The day witnessed more than a couple of individual milestones for players of both the teams, a prominent feature being master blaster Sachin Tendulkar’s maiden ton at this historic venue. However, more significantly, there is a high prospect of a result in this Test.

A LOT IS STILL TO BE DONE

This hundred came at the right time because the team was in bad shape. When I went in to bat, we needed the runs. But the last day will be crucial. I have to try and carry on and we have to ensure that we don’t lose wickets in the first session and also score runs. The result is very hard to predict. Plenty of things could happen early tomorrow. I’m obviously delighted to get my maiden century in Kolkata. This is kind of the home of Indian cricket and earlier I used to always go away disappointed. There is no extra pressure on me but expectations are very high. Even when I sneeze people ask why I sneeze. — Sachin Tendulkar

SCOREBOARD

India (1st innings): 358
West Indies (1st innings): (Overnight 446/5) 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 c Harbhajan b Sehwag 140, C Hooper c Patel b Nehra 19, M Samuels c Sehwag b Harbhajan 104, R Jacobs not out 22, D Powell lbw Kumble 0, J Lawson lbw Kumble 5, C Cuffy c Laxman b Harbhajan 0; Extras: (b-4, lb-7, nb-6) 17
Total: (All out, in 171.3 overs) 497
Fall of wickets: 1-172, 2-186, 3-186, 4-213, 5-255, 6-450, 7-469,8-470, 9-496
Bowling: Srinath 19-3-62-0, Nehra 23-9-66-1, Harbhajan 57.3-15-115-5, Kumble 54-9-169-3, Bangar 6-3-14-0, Tendulkar 7-0-33-0, Sehwag 5-0-27-1
India (2nd innings): S Bangar c Chanderpaul b Dillon 0, V Sehwag c Chanderpaul b Dillon 10, R Dravid lbw Powell 17, S Tendulkar not out 114, S Ganguly lbw Cuffy 16, VVS Laxman not out 30; Extras: (b-4, lb-4) 8
Total: (For 4 wkts, in 64 overs) 195
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-11, 3-49, 4-87
Bowling: Dillon 17-5-63-2, Cuffy 8-2-24-1, Lawson 10-1-41-0, Powell 10-2-19-1, Hooper 12-1-30-0, Gayle 3-1-5-0, Sarwan 1-1-0-0, Samuels 3-1-5-0

To start with, West Indies middle-order batsman Marlon Samuels scored his maiden Test hundred, next, his senior partner Shivnarine Chanderpaul equalled his highest Test score. Then it was India’s turn and after Tendulkar broke his Eden jinx, his teammate Harbhajan Singh bagged his 11th five wicket haul.

Another welcome feature of the day’s proceedings was the changing behaviour of the Eden wicket. On Saturday, the newly-laid track offered everything — bounce, movement and turn for bowlers and ideal conditions for batsmen.

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The fact that as many as nine wickets tumbled on the day, in comparison to just two on the previous day, justified the unexpected improvement of the pitch.

But despite several positive developments, the Caribbeans continued to enjoy a definite edge over India, who reached 195 for four in their second innings at close after conceding a first innings lead of 139 runs which may prove decisive in the end. With an overall lead of just 56 runs and six wickets in hand the home side is certainly on the back foot now.

Earlier, the visitors, replying to India’s first innings total of 358, lost their last five wickets in the first hour of the play to be all out for 497.

The fourth day’s play was called off well over 35 minutes before the scheduled time due to insufficient light when 18 overs still remained to be bowled.

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The Indians had started the day on a good note with the visitors losing three wickets in a span of 15 minutes.

The overcast conditions, coupled with fog, helped the bowlers. India captain Saurav Ganguly exploited the conditions to the hilt to deny a bigger lead to the opposition. Ganguly asked part-time offie Sehwag to bowl the first over of the day.

The gamble clicked as Sehwag struck soon, dismissing overnight centurion Chanderpaul, who popped up a catch to Harbhajan after equalling his highest Test score of 140.

The Sehwag-Harbhajan duo dealt another blow to the Caribbean innings, effecting the dismissal of Marlon Samuels. But before departing, the promising Jamaican batsman fulfiled his much awaited maiden hundred in Test cricket.

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Samules sparkling 104, which was embellished with 18 hits to the ropes, is sure to do a world of good to his confidence as well as his image, which has been tarnished by the alleged misconduct of visiting a night club here. Samuels is a cool and confident batsman with a wide range of strokes in his armoury.

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