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West Indies fight back

Faisal Shariff

Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to amass 20,000 international runs in cricket but failed to take India to a position of dominance on the second day of the second Test in Chennai.

India lost five wickets for 87 runs against a brilliant West Indian bowling performance and could manage only a slender 23-run lead, while replying to the tourists' first innings total of 167, before bad light abandoned play.

Post-lunch session

India went to tea on 134 for 2 in 40 overs, with Sanjay Bangar batting on 33, off a million deliveries, and Sachin Tendulkar on 21, off 26 balls, still trailing the West Indies first innings total by 33 runs.

No play was possible in the morning session due to wet ground conditions following heavy overnight rain.

A damp outfield, caused by heavy overnight rain, forced a delayed start to the second day of the Chennai Test. Unfortunately for the West Indies, it did not quite have the same effect on Virender Sehwag’s batting.

One of these days a bowlers' association will negotiate with Sehwag over a drink, asking him to reassess his game plan.

Today, Sehwag began with the 20-year-old Jermaine Lawson, cracking three boundaries off him. Standing tall on his toes, he leaned back and sent the ball to the third-man fence, played a deft glance down to the fine leg fence and cover drove the bowler for his third four of the over.

The melee was still very much one-sided as Sehwag scored at a pulsating pace, jettisoning caution on a sun-baked Chidambaram surface.

Fortune, however, was part of Sehwag’s innings today as a reckless swish off Mervyn Dillon saw the ball fly to Chris Gayle, who grassed it at first slip after getting both hands to it.

India reached their fifty in the same over, when Pedro Collins, at fine-leg, failed to bend and pick the ball. Nothing seemed to stop Sehwag -- not even the fastest ball of the series, timed at 92.4 mph, from Lawson.

It was baptism by fire into Test cricket for Gareth Breese when he bowled his first over to Sehwag, who took his right glove off and blew some air into it before launching into a hoick over mid-on for a six. Off the very next ball, Wavell Hinds failed to latch on to a simple bat-pad chance.

If giving one life to a batsman of his caliber is a cardinal sin, affording two in one innings is sacrilege. Breese was sent packing into the stands in the same over for a second six that also got Sehwag another quick-fire Test fifty, off a mere 53 balls.

Thirteen runs came of Breese's first over in Test cricket, when it could well have been a memorable one with the wicket of Sehwag.

Holding the bat high on the handle, the arc through which the bat swings is longer and that increases the force with which the ball is struck. A third six, with the full swing of the bat over the mid-wicket fence, exemplified the rapacious power Sehwag possesses.

The visitors though didn’t have to pay too heavily as Sehwag was beaten all ends up by a Collins delivery from around the wicket. The ball, in line with the leg stump, swung a shade and knocked the off-stump out of the ground.

Sehwag’s 61 off 65 balls had set the stage for the Indian batsmen to build on a huge first innings lead.

The attention then shifted to Rahul Dravid and his search for a record-breaking fifth consecutive Test century, set by West Indian great Everton Weekes.

But it was not to be, as Dravid’s 32-minute stay at the crease was cut short by Lawson, who worked up appreciable pace. Pitching one outside off, he got the ball to nip back in like an off-cutter to smash into the stumps. (109-2)

A visibly upset Dravid, having scored 11 runs, walked back to the pavilion, ruing his missed date with Test history.

Sachin Tendulkar was lucky to go into tea undefeated after he pulled Breese over mid-on. Chanderpaul chased the ball, got both hands to it but grassed it much to skipper Hooper’s dismay.

The disastrous fielding had fallen below unforgivable limits. Had the West Indian fielders held onto the catches, the script for the day could have been different.

With Lawson generating disconcerting pace, accompanied by conspicuous swing, the West Indies were finally enjoying a decent session in the Test series.

India went to tea on 134 for 2 in 40 overs, with Bangar on 33 and Tendulkar on 21, which came off 26 balls.

Bangar’s batting off late seems to be built on occupying the crease without any attempt to score runs. Dravid follows a similar school of thought but converts the knocks into huge hundreds. And though it probably makes sense not to mend something that isn’t broken, Bangar’s batting needs a fresh breath of run-scoring avenues.

Post-tea session

Mervyn Dillon got a double breakthrough after tea to soothe the crumpled psyches of his teammates as the West Indies came back strongly in the Test.

In a single over, he ended Sanjay Bangar’s marathon 171-ball innings for 40. The ball pitched on off and kissed the bat as it swayed away from the opener into the safe hands of skipper Hooper at first slip.

He then had Sourav Ganguly LBW off the very next delivery, though replays confirmed that there was a thick inside edge on to pad. Umpire Asoka DeSilva's finger spoke yet again as the Indian skipper returned to the pavilion for his second blob of the series.

In the first Test at the Wankhede, DeSilva had given Ganguly out when the ball from Cameron Cuffy had clearly pitched outside the line of the leg-stump.

A livid Ganguly stomped off the ground clearly expressing his disgust for the umpire's decision even as match referee Mike Procter prepared himself to have a word with the Indian skipper, who has a history of suspensions and fines. It was really unlucky that Ganguly had two back-to-back decisions going against him.

India lost two wickets without the addition of a single run and tumbled to 155 for 4, still trailing the West Indies by 12 runs. The Indians had scored at a very slow rate after the dismissal of Sehwag, even though the wicket was not particularly difficult for batting.

Tendulkar began well but then withdrew into his shell as the scoring rate fell to 2.5 an over. A mere 25 runs came in the 18 overs that Laxman and Tendulkar stayed at the wicket. There was no urgency to look for runs even when the boundaries dried up.

Playing a game against his natural instincts, Tendulkar chased a ball from Lawson from outside the off-stump and chopped it on to his stumps. India had lost half their side with 180 runs on the board, and a slender lead of 13 runs. Tendulkar’s dismissal for 43, off 113 balls, had VVS Laxman with keeper Parthiv Patel at the crease in deteriorating light.

Laxman finally drove the ball to score a boundary for India after 163 balls. Bad light stopped play after India reached 190 for 5 in 70 overs and established a lean lead of 23 runs on a wicket where the ball kept low and took considerable turn.

For the West Indian bowlers their best chance will be to take the new ball after 10 overs in the morning and try to get the five Indian wickets left and put up a better batting performance in the second innings.

The match is open for a close finish.

Batsman with a combined aggregate of
15, 000 runs in Tests and ODIs

S Tendulkar (Ind) 20027
A Border (aus) 17698
S Waugh (Aus) 17200
M Waugh (Aus) 16606
J Miandad (Pak) 16213
D Haynes (WI) 16135
Azharuddin (Ind) 15593
V Richards (WI) 15261
A DeSilva (SL) 15164
B Lara (WI) 15121

Statistics: Mohandas Menon