ndia 209 (Sehwag 55, Dravid 54, Sammy 3-35) and 276 for 5 (Tendulkar 76, Laxman 58*, Sehwag 55) beat West Indies 304 (Chanderpaul 118, Brathwaite 63, Ojha 6-72) and 180 (Chanderpaul 47, Sammy 42, Ashwin 6-47) by five wickets
India raced through the longish home stretch of 124 runs to register
their first win in seven Tests. Anchoring the innings was Sachin
Tendulkar, who overtook Rahul Dravid as the leading run-getter in
chases, and rushing through it was VVS Laxman, who calmed any nerves
there might have been after Dravid's wicket early in the day. Along the
way Laxman passed 1000 runs in chases, including an eighth score of
fifty or more. It was also the third time since last summer that Laxman
was in the middle at the successful completion of a 200-plus chase.
From the moment Darren Sammy slipped down leg
twice in the first over of the day, going for eight runs, West Indies
began losing whatever little grip they had on the match. Fidel Edwards
rejuvenated them momentarily with a reversing inswinger to send Dravid
back, but Laxman announced his arrival with two leg-glanced boundaries.
Forewarned of the reverse, Laxman played late, without much back lift,
and kept the accurate ones from Edwards out.
Helping India was the fact that Edwards, and West
Indies as a bowling unit, didn't have the control to exercise the
perfect mix of offence and defence required in defending mid-range
totals. Laxman continued to ease India through the chase, and when he
punched and flicked Edwards for two boundaries in the 56th over, they
reached 200 and the contest was all but over. In the first hour of play
India smashed 56 runs, including 11 fours. The possibility of
Tendulkar's 100th international hundred - overnight he needed 67 out of
the 124 India required - was a little thought in the corner of the
mind, and that is where it seemed it would remain.
However, the last two of those 11 boundaries were
hit by Tendulkar in one Ravi Rampaul over, a flick to square leg, and a
push - a mere push - through point. Tendulkar now needed 41 out of the
remaining 66 runs, and with the game relatively secure Laxman eased up
a bit. Tendulkar kept picking the boundaries, and Laxman singles, until
the equation came down to 24 out of 43 runs required. Then Tendulkar
went to pull a Devendra Bishoo googly, and was deceived by the low
bounce. Rod Tucker made another correct lbw call in what has been a
good match for him.
Along with Tendulkar went any thoughts of
extending the first session to get a result before the lunch break.
Laxman and Yuvraj Singh didn't want to do anything stupid.
Sammy removed Yuvraj with a shooter when the scores were level and he
nearly got MS Dhoni with another grubber next ball, but that could only
delay India's third-highest successful chase. West Indies were left
with memories of the Jamaica Test earlier this year, when they had
caught India cold but failed to convert it into a Test win.
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