MUMBAI, India, IANS/CMC – All four West Indies top order batsmen stroked half-centuries as the Caribbean side flourished on the opening day of the third and final Test here yesterday.
Opting to bat first in the first Test at the Wankhede in five years, West Indies enjoyed one of their better days on tour to finish on 267 for two.
At the close, Kirk Edwards (65) and Darren Bravo (57) were involved in an unfinished 130-run stand for the third wicket after openers Adrian Barath (62) and Kraigg Brathwaite (68) put on 137, to give the Windies a solid start.
After Dhoni lost the toss, Indian pacers Ishant Sharma and debutant Varun Aaron, who came in for the rested Umesh Yadav, generated pace on a pitch which had a tinge of green but there was hardly any movement through the air or off the seam.
With leading batsman Shiv Chanderpaul ruled out with injury prior to the start of the game, there would have been huge concerns over the Windies ability to put up meaningful resistance to India’s attack.
However, Barath and Brathwaite gave the tourists their best start in five years with their cautious approach, getting 80 runs in the 30-over pre-lunch session, to allay any such fears.
While Barath faced 148 balls and struck eight fours, Brathwaite batted for 184 balls for the same number of boundaries.
When both fell to off-spinner Ravi Ashwin (2-86) before tea to leave the Windies on 150 for two, there was no now familiar batting collapse as Edwards and Bravo continued their good form with entertaining, undefeated knocks.
A confident Edwards has so far cracked 10 fours off 117 balls while the stylish left-handed Bravo has counted seven fours off 98 balls.
India’s varied attack struggled in the morning session as the Windies made a strong start to the game, in an attempt to avoid a series whitewash.
While Brathwaite was content to graft, Barath was the aggressor, unleashing a number of extravagant off-side drives and cuts against both pace and spin.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni introduced spin as early as in the ninth over, bringing on left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, but it hardly made any impression on Barath and Brathwaite, and two batsmen were in complete control as they crossed the 100-run mark.
Brathwaite, who survived two dropped chances, reached his half-century by cutting Ojha for a boundary. However, just as the partnership seemed to be prospering, Ashwin struck to remove Barath, Dhoni lunging forward to take a bat-pad catch in front of the wicket.
The breakthrough lifted the spirits of the Indians and Ashwin soon got rid of Brathwaite, again bat-pad, this time caught by Virat Kohli.
Bravo, fresh from a century in the Kolkata Test, and Edwards, who got a hundred on debut against India earlier this year, joined forces to frustrate the India bowlers.
Edwards was positive from the outset and was the first to get to his half-century when he drove Aaron superbly for four through mid-on to move to 49 and took a single off the next delivery to reach his third fifty in Tests off 69 balls.
His string of handsome drives included one exquisite stroke through extra cover off Ashwin.
Bravo, dropped on 33 by Rahul Dravid at first slip off Ojha, hit Aaron and Sharma for fours in consecutive overs to bring up his 50 off 88 balls.
Dhoni took the new ball in the midst of the 85th over but the West Indies batsman were hardly troubled and saw their side to the close without event.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES 1st innings
A Barath c wkp Dhoni b Ashwin 62
K Brathwaite c Kohli b Ashwin 68
K Edwards not out 65
D Bravo not out 57
Extras (b4, lb10, nb1) 15
TOTAL (2 wkts, 91 overs) 267
To bat: K Powell, M Samuels, +C Baugh, *D Sammy, F Edwards, D Bishoo, R Rampaul
Fall of wickets: 1-137 (Barath), 2-150 (Brathwaite)
Bowling: Sharma 17-6-33-0, Aaron 16-3-47-0, Ojha 26-7-55-0, Ashwin 27-2-86-2, Sehwag 3-0-23-0, Kohli 2-0-9-0.
INDIA – G Gambhir, V Sehwag, R Dravid, S Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, V Kohli, *+MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, I Sharma, P Ojha, V Aaron.
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: A Hill, B Oxenford; TV – S Tarapore.