India captain Rahul Dravid (right) throws the ball in the air after catching West Indies batsman Dwayne Bravo (second left) off the bowling of Anil Kumble (out of picture), while teammates Mahendra Dhoni, the wicketkeeper and Mohammed Kaif (left) celebrate during play on the third day of the second Digicel cricket Test series at the Beausejour Stadium in St. Lucia. Bravo scored 25. - DELLMAR
GROS ISLET, St. Lucia (CMC):
SET UP by three wicket hauls from Anil Kumble, Munaf Patel and Virender Sehwag, India claimed a big first innings advantage to press for victory after the third day of the second Digicel Test against West Indies at Beausejour Stadium yesterday.
On a day cut short by 45 minutes because of rain, India dismissed West Indies for 215 to earn a substantial first innings lead of 373 on the back of pacer Patel's early strikes, leg-spinner Kumble's mid-innings wickets and off-spinner Sehwag's wrapping up of the lower-order.
Batting a second time after India enforced the follow-on, West Indies reached 43 for one before evening showers forced play to be called off just after 5:00 p.m. with 12 overs remaining.
The hosts lost Chris Gayle to the third ball of the second innings, but opener Daren Ganga (24 not out) and captain Brian Lara (15 not out) batted through until the close to offer West Indians some hope of salvaging a draw ahead of today's penulti-mate day which will start half-hour earlier at 9:30 a.m. to make up for the lost time.
West Indies, resuming their first innings on 65 for three in response to India's imposing 588 for eight declared, lasted until the tea break.
CAREER-BEST
Kumble, who went past Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets to become the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, took three for 57 off 30 overs, while Sehwag had career-best figures of three for 33 from 16.1 overs.
Fast bowler Munaf Patel, who started West Indies' woes on Sunday evening with two wickets in successive balls in the 10th over, claimed another victim to finish with three for 51 from 17 overs.
The only West Indies resis-tance came by way of two half-century partnerships.
Overnight batsmen Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul carried their fourth wicket partnership to 51 after West Indies resumed on 65 for three and later Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin added 61 for the sixth wicket.
Gayle and Chanderpaul fell in successive overs on the hour mark. Gayle fell for 46 after starting the day on 34, while Chanderpaul, who was five overnight, made 30.
Gayle played cautiously before lifting Kumble for a six over long-on. Kumble gained revenge three balls later when Gayle was caught by wicket-keeper Mahendra Dhoni on the second attempt after a thin edge off the back foot.
Chanderpaul went lbw in the next over to a ball of almost full length from left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan to which the batsman was guilty of playing across the line.
INDIA 1st Innings 588-8 decl'd (Virender Sehwag 180, Mohammed Kaif 148 not out, Rahul Dravid 146, Wasim Jaffer 43; Pedro Collins 4-116).
SCOREBOARD
WEST INDIES 1st Innings
(overnight 65-3)
C. Gayle c wkpr Dhoni b Kumble 46
D. Ganga lbw b Patel 16
R. Sarwan lbw b Patel 0
B. Lara lbw b Kumble 7
S. Chanderpaul lbw b Pathan 30
D. Bravo c Dravid b Kumble 25
+D. Ramdin c wkpr Dhoni b Patel 30
I. Bradshaw c and b Sehwag 20
J. Taylor c Kaif b Sehwag 23
P. Collins c Dravid b Sehwag 0
C. Collymore not out 2
Extras (b5, lb2, nb9) 16
TOTAL (all out, 85.1 overs) 215
Fall of wickets: 1-36, 3-36, 3-55, 4-106, 5-106, 6-167, 7-178, 8-209, 9-210, 10-215.
Bowling: Pathan 11-2-43-1, Patel 17-4-51-3, Kumble 30-12-57-3 (nb5), VRV Singh 10-3-23-0 (nb4), Sehwag 16.1-5-33-3, Yuvraj Singh 1-0-1-0.
WEST INDIES 2nd Innings
C. Gayle c wkpr Dhoni b Pathan 2
D. Ganga not out 24
+B. Lara not out 15
Extras (nb2) 2
TOTAL (1 wkt, 17.3 overs) 43
Fall of wicket: 1-2.
Bowling: Pathan 7-1-23-1, Patel 5-4-4-0, VRV Singh 3-0-9-0 (nb2), Kumble 2-0-7-0, Sehwag 0.3-0-0-0.
