Close India 141 for 4 (Ganguly 22*, Laxman 27*) trail West Indies 422 all out (Hinds 113, Gayle 68, Sarwan 65, Harbhajan 5-138 ) by 281 runs
scorecard

India's hopes of an away-series win seemed a distant dream just two days into the fifth Test. At close of play, India needed a further 82 runs to avoid following on, with their last recognised batting pair at the crease. The Indian batting display brought to nought the effort of the bowlers, who whisked out the last five West Indian wickets for 21 runs, in the process giving Harbhajan Singh his first five-for overseas.

It was a familiar story for India's batsmen on a seamer-friendly track. The West Indian bowlers extracted a significant amount of movement, and with the bounce getting increasingly unpredictable – a couple of deliveries from Mervyn Dillon reared disconcertingly after pitching, while the ball that got Rahul Dravid kept alarmingly low – India were always up against it.

India's innings looked in capable hands when Sachin Tendulkar and SS Das were in the midst of their 69-run partnership. Tendulkar, especially, seemed determined to shrug off his miserable run with the bat, racing to 41 from just 63 balls with delectable drives and flicks. His departure, and then Das's dismissal soon after, put West Indies in control.

Unlike the Indian seamers, the West Indian new-ball attack kept the ball in the corridor, and reaped the rewards soon. Wasim Jaffer, who had looked so impressive at Antigua, struggled in his 15-ball stay and nicked a Dillon delivery to the keeper for 0 (5 for 1). Dravid was shaping well in his brief stay, but was done in by one from Dillon which jagged back and kept low. Dravid made just 5 and India were 15 for 2.

Tendulkar walked in, and was soon on his way, clipping Dillon off his legs for four to get off the mark and then driving him down the ground for four more. With Das secure in defence, India went into tea at 34 for 2.

The partnership continued to blossom after tea. Playing much straighter than in his last few innings, Tendulkar looked assured in defence and strokeplay. A straight-drive off Dillon was immaculately executed, as were a couple of square-drives when the bowlers gave him width. The partnership promised much more, when an innocuous, wide half-volley from Adam Sanford did the trick. Tendulkar went for a square-drive, but only succeeded in playing it onto his stumps (84 for 3). The Indian camp looked shocked – Harbhajan buried his face in his hands – as Tendulkar trudged back.

Das went soon after, when Cuffy won an lbw appeal with a delivery which pitched outside off and veered in, hitting Das in front of middle (86 for 4). Das made 33, the third time he had fallen in the 30s in this series. India had lost two well-set batsmen for two runs, and the innings which looked so promising was suddenly in tatters.

Ganguly and Laxman nursed it back somewhat with their unbeaten 55-run partnership. Laxman showed his class with a couple of gorgeous cover-drives and flicks, while Ganguly found the gaps to perfection with his back-foot cuts. But more importantly, both were solid in defence, and eschewed flashy strokeplay, to ensure that India lived to fight on the third morning.

Earlier, the West Indian innings suffered its customary lower-order collapse to be bowled out for 422. Resuming at 287 for 4, they lost an early wicket when Carl Hooper hung his bat out like a submarine periscope at a short one from Javagal Srinath. The ball ballooned behind the wicket and Dravid ran behind the keeper to take the catch (292 for 5). Hooper made just 17, a rare failure in what has been a tremendously productive series. It was some relief for Srinath too after a two-Test wicketless drought.

Ridley Jacobs came in, and immediately launched into a counterattack. The Indian bowlers had kept it tight early on, but one over from Srinath opened the floodgates. Jacobs was unfazed by a couple of bouncers – one of which flew over the keeper for four byes – and deposited a couple of well-pitched deliveries over the bowler for a four and a six. Eighteen came off that over and West Indies were on their way again. Severe on anything fractionally off target, Jacobs raced to his half-century, as West Indies added 94 in the morning session.

The game was rapidly moving away from India, but Harbhajan pulled it back after lunch. Jacobs misjudged a straighter one, played back, and was bowled off the inside edge for 59 – a knock which included seven fours and two sixes (401 for 6).

Chanderpaul's stodgy innings of 58 ended when he nicked one to Ajay Ratra off Srinath (411 for 8). The tail didn't offer much resistance, and the West Indian innings, which at one stage looked like crossing 450, folded for 422. As the Indians found out later, that might well be enough to win them the Test, and the series.

Teams
West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Brian Lara, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Carl Hooper (capt), 6 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Mervyn Dillon, 9 Cameron Cuffy, 10 Pedro Collins, 11 Adam Sanford.

India 1 SS Das, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Ajay Ratra (wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Javagal Srinath, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India. S Rajesh is sub editor.

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