Mishras second coming

Leg-spinner takes 3/28 before Russells 64-ball 92 propels West Indies to 225

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The ball drifted in ever so slightly before pitching on a good-length and spinning past Marlon Samuel8217;s closed bat-face only for Parthiv Patel to complete a straightforward stumping. The pitch at the Vivian Richards Stadium at North Sound unlike the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad wasn8217;t expected to take much turn. It never has,those in the know say. And coming into the third ODI on the back of some good form,Samuels can be excused for taking the attack to the spinner early on in the innings.

What he unfortunately didn8217;t factor in,though,was that he was up against a leg-spinner at the peak of his prowess and who has easily been India8217;s best bowler so far in the Caribbean. And Amit Mishra not only beat Samuels in the air,he also got the ball to grip and turn off the wicket much to the bewilderment of the batsman and the smattering of spectators who turned up on Saturday.

For close to eight years,from the time he made his ODI debut in Bangladesh just following the 2003 World Cup,Mishra has always been an unsung performer amongst the spin-bowling ranks in Indian cricket. While the likes of Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla have often gotten a longer rope to cement their place in the side,the 28-year-old leg-spinner from Haryana has seemed to be perennially just a single failure away from being dropped.

And there were plenty of eyebrows raised when Mishra was picked ahead of R Ashwin,who stood out with his performances in the IPL,for the first ODI. Probably the reluctance to play two off-spinners played into his hands. All Mishra could do was to make the most of it. And so far in the West Indies he has done just that.

Critics might point out at the much-publicised weaknesses of the West Indian batsmen to play against spin. But not since his memorable debut Test series against the Australians in 2008 has Mishra bowled with the control and confidence that he has displayed in the Caribbean.

Having seen him run through their batting at Trinidad during a spell of 4/31,the West Indians decided to attack him in the early going on Saturday. Brought into bowl in the 10th over of the innings-he has bowled within the 10th over in all three ODIs now-Mishra was hit for a six in his very first over and a boundary in his second.

But Suresh Raina kept him on,and Mishra delivered by first getting rid of Samuels. While the wicket in Trinidad assisted his bowling drastically,allowing him to turn his leg-breaks viciously,the major weapon for Mishra on West Indian soil this time around has been his googly,which he has used deceptively despite it not being very unconventional in nature.

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And he set up debutant Danza Hyatt brilliantly by bowling a big leg-break first before dishing out a googly,which pitched around the same line and length but turned the other way,flummoxing Hyatt and bowling him. Mishra was on a roll,and India were in complete command. The field was brought in,and the leg-spinner was soon awarded a Test match-like field,with catchers all around the batsman,except a short-leg. The wicket suddenly became a nightmare for the home team batsmen,and with fielders chirping all around them,all they could do it seemed was battle for survival against Mishra.

But that wasn8217;t to be,as Mishra then dismissed the well-set Simmons with a flighted leg-break which took his outside-edge.

Russell comes to the rescue

West Indies were tottering at 74/5 and Mishra had once again done the damage. He in fact looked good for more than his eventual three wickets but Carlton Baugh and Andre Russell survived his bag of tricks-top-spinners,googlies,drifters and the lot. And though Russell8217;s heroics,a breathtaking 64-ball 92 did lift the West Indies a tad,they never could soar. Their feet had already been tied up too tightly tied up thanks to Mishra8217;s unrelenting web of spin.