The first day's play of the fourth Test was mostly about the contrasting batting displays from Wasim Jaffer and Rahul Dravid. Jaffer was all grace and flair, especially square on the off side on the back foot; Dravid was the rock-solid anchor, not giving the bowlers even half a chance. Jaffer scored his runs at a strike-rate of 48% (86 off 180); Dravid needed 86 more deliveries to score as many. They contributed almost equally to the partnership of 155 runs, Jaffer scoring 76 to Dravid's 75, but Dravid pulled down the shutters after the double-blow, making 11 runs from 85 balls.

Their run-scoring methods were quite different. Jaffer scored 55 runs on the off side, 47 of them in the arc between third man and extra-cover. Dravid, on the other hand, scored 63% of his runs on the on side, and was particularly dominant through mid-on, getting 20 runs in that area alone.

Jaffer's authority off the back-foot can be gleaned from the fact that he hit up 50 off just 70 balls when playing back; when drawn forward, it took him 95 balls to score 36 runs. West Indies' bowlers fed him the short stuff too – 23% of their deliveries were short of a length, while only 12% of the time did they err on the fuller side.

For the second Test in a row, Pedro Collins suffered the most at Jaffer's hands, going for 29 runs from 37 balls; in the two Tests combined, he has conceded 57 runs from 61 balls to Jaffer. Collins had the last laugh though, getting rid of Jaffer, and next ball, achieving the unthinkable.

S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com India.

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