Gayle’s height makes him an awkward man to bowl to. Standing on his toes, Gayle is able to drive even seemingly short balls quite comfortably on the up. Not necessarily playing in the air, Gayle is able to use the top hand to keep the ball down. It was such a cover drive today that saw Gayle reach 61 and with it 1000 runs in Test cricket.

The 36th over of the day saw Zaheer Khan get creamed through covers in typical Gayle fashion. Clearly miffed, Zaheer Khan bent his back, and two balls later surprised Gayle with a delivery that was perfectly pitched outside the off and bounced a bit more than expected. The resultant edge was well taken by Wasim Jaffer at gully. Gayle’s 68 (106 balls, 13 fours) had pushed the first wicket partnership to 111.

The fall of Gayle’s wicket did nothing to deter Wavell Hinds. A different batsman from the taller Gayle, Hinds’ strength lies in a short back lift and quick bat speed. He certainly used those features, coupled with some nifty footwork against the spinner to become the second batsman to score a half-century in this innings. Batting on 67, Hinds has shown a tendency to lose concentration. His captain however would want him to go on to make a big score.

Self assured and the picture of confidence, Ramnaresh Sarwan worked his way to 39 when tea was taken.

The day began well for the Indians, with Sourav Ganguly winning his first toss of the series. That was, however, the only bright spot. Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan all failed to utilise optimum seam bowling conditions. With a decent covering of live grass, there should have been enough lateral movement and bounce to excite the bowlers.

However, the Indian seamers found that it was difficult to swing the ball from an off stump line. Every time they strayed a bit outside the off there was exaggerated movement. The batsmen, Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds could leave those deliveries well alone and go after the loose deliveries on offer.

And there were a few loose deliveries. The Jamaican pair opening the batting took full toll. Both exciting left-handers in their own right, Gayle and Hinds made sure they were well set before they went after the bowling. Booming drives down the wicket were the order of the day. The ball was kept right up to the bat by the bowlers and when there was no swing, Gayle’s blade came down in a clean arc, bludgeoning the ball back past the bowler.

The short pitched stuff was not spared either, being pulled and cut mercilessly. It’s no wonder then that Gayle (55 not out, 11 fours) and Hinds 32 (5 fours) put on an entertaining, breezy unbeaten 88 in the first session. India’s frustration was there to see – Ganguly was warned for running on the danger area, Harbhajan Singh was brought on to bowl as early as the 25th over… All to no effect.

The wicket has been a cause for great concern for the Indians. There’s plenty of live grass on the strip, it’s hard and bouncy. Michael Holding, a local, wrote in one of his columns that he had never seen so much grass on the wicket at the Sabina Park.

The state of the wicket decided many things – starting with the West Indian team. The hosts go into the game with four fast bowlers, making no changes to the side that played at Antigua.

India, forced to make one change due to Anil Kumble’s injury bring Harbhajan Singh into the side. Kumble, back in Bangalore has had surgery on his broken jaw is recuperating well.