SOS: Sachin Only Solace

Cameron Cuffy, from the island of St.Vincent, struck first with six runs on the board by trapping Deep Dasgupta lbw for a duck with a ball that came in sharply after pitching on off-stump.

Captain Saurav Ganguly, who promoted himself to No.3 after scoring a century in that position against Zimbabwe in New Delhi last month, looked in all sorts of trouble from the moment he reached the crease.

The left-hander’s weakness against short bowling was exposed as he mis-hit at attempted pull off a rising ball from Dillon and spooned a simple catch to Mahendra Nagamootoo at square leg to be dismissed for five.

Opener Shiv Sundar Das and Sachin Tendulkar, who cut Cuffy for a boundary backward of square and drove him straight down the ground for the second of his three fours for his 18, were at the crease.

Earlier, the West Indian tail had failed to wag as they added only seven runs to their overnight 494 for seven.

All-rounder Sanjay Bangar trapped Dillon lbw for a duck in the first over with a ball that pitched on off-stump before Left-hander Nagamootoo lofted leg-spinner Anil Kumble for a one-bounce four over long-on.

Kumble grabbed his second wicket of the innings when he beat debutant Adam Sanford in the Air and got him leg before for one. Cuffy was the last man to go, run out, also for a duck after a misunderstanding with Nagamootoo over a second run to Sachin Tendulkar at square-leg.

Captain Carl Hooper had smashed 233 for his maiden Test double-century and shared in a 293-run fifth-wicket stand with Left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul on Friday to put West Indies on top before the umpires called off play 22 overs early due to rain and bad light.