India, WI match ends in exciting draw
Sunday, 27 November 2011
MUMBAI, Nov 26 (AFP): Indian spinners Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin plotted a sensational West Indies collapse before the third and final Test ended in a thrilling draw with scores level on the last day on Saturday.
Left-arm spinner Ojha finished with 6-47 and off-spinner Ashwin with 4-34 as the West Indies were dismissed for 134 in their second innings in the morning after losing their last eight wickets for 43 runs.
India finished at 242-9 chasing a 243-run target, with young middle-order batsman Virat Kohli scoring an impressive 63 and explosive opener Virender Sehwag riding his luck to smash a 65-ball 60.
The hosts needed three runs to win in the last over with two wickets in hand, but fast bowler Fidel Edwards conceded only two to prevent India from making a clean sweep.
India won the first Test in New Delhi by five wickets and the second match in Kolkata by an innings and 15 runs.
A pair of below-par batting performances marked the 17-wicket day, with the West Indies collapsing in their second innings in the morning and then the famed Indian batting line-up struggling to achieve the target.
India were 189-6 at one stage after losing Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir (12), Rahul Dravid (33), Sachin Tendulkar (three), Venkatsai Laxman (31) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (13) before Kohli raised his team's victory hopes.
Sehwag, who was dropped thrice, added 82 for the second wicket with Dravid before being caught by skipper Darren Sammy at short fine-leg while attempting a reverse-paddle sweep off leg-spinner Devender Bishoo.
Tendulkar, who needs just one more hundred to complete an unprecedented 100 international centuries, was caught by Kirk Edwards at mid-wicket off part-time spinner Marlon Samuels.
West Indies 1st innings: 590 (D. Bravo 166, K. Edwards 86, K. Powell 81, K. Brathwaite 68, A. Barath 62, M. Samuels 61; R. Ashwin 5-156)
India 1st innings: 482 (R. Ashwin 103, S. Tendulkar 94, R. Dravid 82, G. Gambhir 55, V. Kohli 52; M Samuels 3-74, R. Rampaul 3-95)
West Indies 2nd innings:
A. Barath c Laxman
b Ojha 3
K. Brathwaite c
Tendulkar b Ojha 35
K. Edwards st Dhoni
b Ojha 17
D. Bravo c and b Ojha 48
K. Powell lbw b Ashwin 11
M. Samuels st
Dhoni b Ojha 0
C.Baugh b Ashwin 1
D.Sammy c
Dhoni b Ashwin 10
R. Rampaul c
Tendulkar b Ojha 0
F.Edwards not out 2
D. Bishoo lbw b Ashwin 0
Extras: (b3, lb4) 7
Total: (for all out;
57.2 overs) 134