As desperate as the question of what constitutes a defendable score in this series is which captain will try a different opening gambit with the new ball. If this ODI series consisted of boxing bouts, the referee would have stepped in before the count reached ten: new-ball bowlers from both teams have been torn apart.

Of course, getting pounded is an occupational hazard in the medium-pace trade. But in this series, it's becoming as standard a ritual as the toss, the drinks break and a Chris Gayle hundred.

With West Indies 77 for 0 after nine overs, TV cameras even caught Uncle Lester, the West Indian travelling fan, dozing in the stands. Boundaries and sixes from Wavell Hinds and Chris Gayle were passé; a dot ball might have startled him awake.

After debutant Lakshmipathy Balaji and Javagal Srinath were duly ripped for 71 off seven overs, Sourav Ganguly brought on his slow bowlers. That they got him two wickets in eight balls made it even more baffling that Ganguly still doesn't fully subscribe to Who Dares Wins.

Defending 290 in such a series - where any target gets chased down - needed a daring, or at least different, opening gambit with the new ball. Ganguly had seen the turn the coffee-coloured pitch offered when he batted, seen Carl Hooper quickly seek refuge in spinners, including himself. Part-timers – Hooper, Hinds, Gayle and Marlon Samuels - had bowled 26 of the scheduled 48 overs.

Yet, Ganguly still decided to stick to the same opening bowling routine, saw them smashed mercilessly and then got Harbhajan Singh into the firing line in the 10th over, this time with the score at 77 for 0. Why not give him a chance at 0 for 0, before Hinds and Gayle had again done irreparable damage?

Ganguly tried nine bowlers as part of damage control but it was all too late. As in the Indian innings, the West Indian momentum was temporarily halted by the slow bowlers. Then, strutting his own medium-pace bravely in the 36th over, Ganguly went for 19 runs and West Indies escaped again from an asking rate of more than six an over.

The stump microphones picked up Dravid yelling to Murali Kartik – who bowled intelligently, floating the ball adequately high above the batsmen's eye level to earn respectable figures of 10-0-38-1 - "think about it, Murali, think about it". He should chant that to his friend and captain.

Ganguly again had misplaced priorities. His team had mowed down a target of 325 with two overs and five wickets to spare in the previous match, and yet he reckoned it was the batting machinery that needed tinkering.

So Mohammad Kaif was given Yuvraj Singh's position in the order, Kartik and Srinath were pushed ahead of Harbhajan and - as poetic justice for such hare-brained schemes – both Yuvraj and Kaif flopped at a crucial phase as India managed only 67 in the last ten overs.

That India still reached 290 reflected both the quality of bowling – the specialist West Indian bowlers had surrendered 133 in 22 overs – as well as a new steely resilience in the Indian batting, despite Ganguly meddling with the order.

That India's batting momentum can only be paused, but not punctured, owes much to the likes of a new-look Dravid. He again spiced his ODI batting with newfound creativity, flawlessly executing two reverse sweeps during his 33 off 36 balls.

The West Indian batting was all about moments to savour. Hinds's 80 off 60 balls, with ten fours and five sixes – one of which injured a lady in the stands – confirms that West Indies have, at last, found the men to open their batting. Now, if only both captains can find the men to open their bowling.

Raja M is a regular contributor to Wisden.com in India

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