Kumble, Harbhajan wreck clueless West Indians Anil Kumble sure throws a great bash for his birthday. Instead of pleasing merely a few with a nice party, he pleased a billion with five wickets on the first day of the second Test at Chennai. The West Indies, starting off very slowly indeed, could not change their fortunes, being bowled out for under 200 for the third time in a row. Kumble took five wickets, Harbhajan Singh took three, and spin was the arch destructor of the West Indian innings. Shivnarine Chanderpaul stuck around for some time, but the top-scorer was captain Carl Hooper, who made his 35 off just 38 balls. Bowled out for 167, the West Indies then suffered the ignominy of seeing 31 of those runs knocked off by India in just eight overs, with Virender Sehwag taking heavy toll in making 24 off 21 balls. India's task is now fairly clear-cut - make a whopping large score and then make the West Indies bat last on the fourth and fifth days.

Chanderpaul's wicket gave me great joy - Kumble Ringing in his 32nd birthday with a lethal spell of bowling that saw him scalp 5/30, the twentieth five-wicket bag of his career, Anil Kumble put India firmly in the driver's seat at the end of the first day of the second Test at the MA Chidambaram stadium at Chepauk. "Obviously it was special to get Chanderpaul's wicket. He has scored heavily against us so many times and it was good to get him today. Parthiv Patel took a brilliant catch to dismiss Chanderpaul as there as quite a bit of extra bounce in that delivery. Patel is doing well and I think he has a bright future ahead of him," said Kumble. "The toss was crucial and when we lost it we tried to go out there and get them out as quickly as possible. It's a new wicket we're playing on and we were not sure how it would behave. We were happy to restrict West Indies to just 167." "I don't think it was a great first-day wicket because there was nothing in it for the fast bowlers," said Kumble. "In the beginning there was not much bounce and all you could do was bowl wicket to wicket and maintain a good line. This was the best thing to do and it worked." "I was never under any pressure. Having played cricket at this level for so many years I know that you have to take things as they come. People will talk and write different things, that's their opinion. My job is just to go out there and take wickets. I'm not there to answer to critics. I feel that I can still deliver with the ball and I will keep playing so long as I feel that way. When I can't do this, I will know and people will come to know."

Ironing out problems the Chennai way There is no dearth of imaginative Indians as Chennai yet again proved. With the outfield at the MA Chidambaram stadium rendered damp because of heavy overnight rain, the groundstaff had to press every resource at their disposal into service to ensure that play began at least by afternoon on the second day of the second Test. While the ubiquitous supersopper, sponges and mops were all expressly employed as expected, a rare sight was provided when the men at work brought out a red-hot iron to the middle. The questions that must have popped up in the minds of the inquisitive onlookers were quickly answered when it was put to innovative use - the men using it to iron the practice wicket dry. Thanks to their diligent efforts and their unique idea, India resumed their reply at 12:10 in the afternoon.

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