All set for the century of centuries by Sachin !

India did make a comeback in the last session, but WI piled up a mammoth 575/9 at stumps on the second day. Aaron struck thrice and Ashwin scalped two to reduce WI below the 600 mark, after they wre 494/4 at tea.

Darren Bravo scored 166 in 284 balls. Kirk Edwards was out to Ishant for 86. Powell blasted 81 and Samuels 61.

Bravo hit Aaron for two consecutive fours, thus revealing his aggressive mindset. Breakthrough came when Edwards nicked Ishant and WI had lost their third wicket.

Powell, who replaced Edwards, believed that attack is the best form of defence. Bravo played the sheet anchor role and proved to be the backbone of WI batting.

Powell too fell in the eighties. The elegant left hander played a loose cut against Ojha and it was taken brilliantly by Dhoni.

Bravo hit the century mark, his third in Tests four - in 153 deliveries.

Both Bravo and Powell were in belligerent mood, as WI inched closer to the 500 mark.

After hours of toil, Aaron got his first wicket, when he had the dangerous Bravo caught behind. In the next over he had Baugh bowled. Aaron struck for the third time, when he drew the WI captain, Sammy, forward, inducing an outside edge to be caught by India's formidable wicket keeper.

After Aaron, Ashwin struck twice to create confusion in the West Indian ranks, which was on their way to the 650 mark. Ravi Rampual was taken and Samuels was consumed in the slips by the greatest catcher in Test cricket, Dravid !

Meanwhile, there is criticism that the Indian attack lacked venom. What was the necessity of resting the latest pace success, Yadav ? Indian cricket, critics say, have gone to pre-KIrstenian days. It was Gary Kirsten who transformed Indian cricket, making the team more professional !

Aaron hopeful, as he bags three wickets

Yadav relaxed deep into the chair he had positioned near the ropes. On the contary, Aaron, was a bundle of wicketless nerves, as he walked in to bowl, when the shadows were creeping in to the field. Suddenly Aaron had some inspiration. "I will pitch it up, I will make the ball talk," he told himself, as he began to run with the ball in hand. The first five balls were well pitched up and the sixth ball took the edge of the formidable Bravo's bat and flew to Dhoni. That wicket seemed to have inspired the youngster. In the next over, he had Baugh clean bowled and Aaron had taken two wickets in two overs ! Spurred by these success after 22 wicketless overs, Aaron continued his strategy of inspired, accurate bowling. He found the edge of Sammy's bat and he had picked up three ! He could have picked up four, if Dhoni had not floored a half chance, off Samuels !

This three wicket burst seems to have increased Aaron's chances Down Under !

West Indies bat well at last !

All WI batsmen were successful yesterday as WI piled up 267/2.

Four half centuries by the West Indies batsmen - Barath 62, Brathwaite 68, Edwards 65* and Bravo 57* - saw a successful WI batting day.

If win this Test match, she will come to the No 1 position. But the Test appears to be moving towards a draw.

Even though the Indian pacers bowled at more than 140 kph, both Aaron and Ishant, many catches were not held, but that happens in cricket !.

After a 137 partnership between between Barath and Brathwaite, an unfinished 117 run partnership evolved between the 'new Lara", Bravo and Kirk Edwards. Ashwin picked up both wickets.

Australia win thriller !

Glorious batting by Khawaja, Ponting, Haddin, Johnson and Cummins saw the Kangaroos win the second Test.

At 215/6, Australia seemed to be against all odds. Then Haddin scored a brilliant 55, Khwaja 65, Ponting 62 and Mitchell Johnson 40 not out, in a great score of 310/8.

This was the largest chase at the Wanderers. Cummins cornered glory, as he got seven wickets and hit the winning four to the amazement of the South Africans ! Cummins hard hit was floored by Dale Steyn. If Steyn had taken that catch, history would have been different. But that was not to be.

Haddin and Johnson took Australia from 215 to 287, when Haddin was out. Johnson used all his experience to weather the South African speedsters.

Rightly, Cummins was adjudged Man of the Match. Philander, with his penchant for both out and in swing was named Man of the Series.

This match was providential to Ponting, Haddin and Johnson, who are all at the mercy of the Australian selection panel. But experience proved to be the major factor for Australia's win !

Bajji out of Aussie tour ?

The Indian selectors are on the horns of a dilemma. To select Bajji or not ? Now that Ashwin and Ojha have established themselves as front line spinners, they automatically select themselves.

Bajji's plus points are playing in 96 Tests and the favour of the Indian skipper. But Sreekant & Co are now harping on performance, with their dictum "Perform or Perish".

The other spinner's choice falls on Piyush Chawla or Rahul Sharma. Rahul Sharma with his height can extract bounce from the pitches Down Under. Chawla has the support of the skipper Dhoni.

In the last two Ranji Trophy matches, Bajji's performance was below par. In the match against UP he went wicketless and managed 1-44 against Orissa. Time is also running out for him, as he has only one chance to make his case stronger.

Rahul Sharma is in the good books of the selectors for his ability to extract bounce from any surface. "Sharma's bounce may come handy on Australian
pitches" said one of the selectors. Sreekant, M Amarnath, Bhave and Venkat are in the team of the selectors.

Meanwhile, Australia are 142/3 in the match against formidable SA, needing 168 for victory with seven wickets in hand. Can they do it ? No wonder cricket has been defined as a glorious game of dire vicissitudes !

Indian bowlers click !

Dhoni was happy about the Indian bowling performance.

"The bowlers are hunting as a pack, it doesn't matter who is taking the wickets," said the whirlwind wicket keeper batsman.

"Umesh can really bowl over 140kph. Ishant also bowled well," he added. "The bowlers are taking the responsibility. The first innings was perfect. We got off to a good start and the middle order capitalized and we put up a par-plus score. It was a lot of runs to defend. The fast bowlers gave us breakthrough and the spinners capitalized."

Yuvraj has been axed and Rohit Sharma is in for the next Test starting on 22nd. India hope to continue their winning streak.

People may have dismissed Ojha's and Ashwin's success in the First Test as a flash in the pan, but they proved otherwise. Yadav bowled regularly above 140 kph and clean bowled many a set batsman. He took seven wickets in this Test, most of them clean bowled. Ishant Sharma also bowled well and the Indian bowling clicked as a unit.

In Yadav and Aaron, India has some genuine speedsters or demon fast bowlers, who can bowl about 140 kph and remove well set batsmen. These pacers are needed to skittle out the lower order. So these two are a boon to India. They have to be groomed well for the future. Hope the Indian administrators will do the needful.

India win by an innings and 15 runs !

Yadav clean bowled Chanderpaul for 47 and now the WI are 278/4, trailing by 202 runs behind India. It ended the 108 partnership by Bravo and Chanderpaul for the fourth wicket.

If India can get rid of Darren Bravo, now on 89, she has a chance to pull it off. Everything depends on Darren Bravo for the West Indies. He is now joined by Samuels.

Chanderpaul inside edged a fiery Yadav delivery onto his stumps. Bravo is still Windies hope and is on his way to a well compiled century.

At 0950 AM, the century partnership was achieved, as Bravo and Chanderpaul kept the aggressive Indian bowlers at bay. Dhoni is not exactly worried but Windies may take the match to the fifth day. WI 262/3.

At 0855 AM, IST, Bravo brought up a decent Test fifty but it was sad to see an empty stadium such a feat. WI 217/3.

After playing a masterly innings, Darren Bravo departed after scoring 136. He was held in the slips by Dravid off Ojha and the West Indies lost the last six wickets for 62 runs. Six overs after Ojha removed Bravo, Ashwin removed Samuels lbw for 84.

Sammy hit three sixes in an aggressive belligerent mood, showing defiance. Dhoni turned to Yadav and the fast bowler obliged by removing Sammy and Bishoo off successive deliveries and the game was over. WI all out for 463 and India winning by an innings and 15 runs.

Unorthodox spinner Sunil Narine and top order batsman Jason Mohammed were the surprise selections for the West Indian ODI squad to meet India in the five ODIs starting from Nov 29. Bishoo and Fidel Edwards have been rested. While Narine was the star of the Championship League, Mohammed was the star in the Regional Super 50 Limited Overs competition. He scored 227 runs in the domestic season.

VVS Laxman is the Man of the Match for his 176 not out. When Samuels and Bravo were going strong, it looked good for the Windies. But once Bravo fell, India came back into the match strong.

The Ojha Dravid combination were responsible for the wickets of Bravo and Baugh. Low catches were snapped up by the greatest cather in Test cricket against the well tossed up deliveries of Ojha.

At lunch, the Windies were 339/4. He did what Brian couldnt in India - a century.

India declare at 631/7

Three masterly hundreds, by Laxman ( 176*), Dhoni ( 144 ) and Dravid ( 119 ) saw India amass a mammoth 631.

The WI bowlers could do nothing against the three centurions ( Can we call them the Three Musketeers ? )who blasted them them to all parts of the field. Dhoni hit five sixes and Dravid and Laxman were as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar.

The West Indies are 34/2, with Umesh Yadav capturing the wicket of Barath and Ashwin accounted for Brathwaite. The West Indies need 432 to avoid following on and it seems an uphill task against the wiles and guiles of Ashwin, Ojha, Ishant and Yadav ! Anyway, let us watch and see.

Indian batting proved to be formidable with three Test players scoring scintillating hundreds and the West Indian bowling lacked penetration. Windies bowlers could not take all Indian wickets and it seems it is Fortress India in India. One wonders whether it is the same Indian team which got routed in England. But then the Indian bowlers are different, and the Indian batsmen are freed from injuries. !

West Indies are now all out for 153 and will be following on. They lasted only 48 overs and the blistering speed of Yadav and the tantalising spin of Ojha and Ashwin did them in. It is interesting to note that Bishoo bowled 45 overs and WI lasted only 48 overs !

It was Umesh Yadav who struck first, removing Samuels and Bravo who could have proved ominous for India.


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