Today merely reinforced the belief that yesterday was possibly the turning point of the series. There wasn't much to say about India today, other that their bowlers weren't as good as the West Indian bowlers were yesterday, just as their batsmen yesterday hadn't been as good as the West Indian batsmen were today. Together, the differences added up to a sizeable amount.

It was, for the most part, a tedious day of cricket. Wickets didn't really fall - they dropped by once in a way. Runs came by at a good pace, but, before Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul raised visions of their Bourda extravaganza towards the end, they didn't ever flow. It was a game of pegging away and by the end, it was clear that West Indies had done it far better than India.

The problem for India really was the mediocrity in bowling, something that hits them hard in the face almost every time they are not playing on a dustbowl. They know they have limited resources, and today, they rightly thought it best to try and work effectively within them. It had worked for them in the second innings at Port-of-Spain, but that time West Indies were chasing 313 to win. This time, it was only a matter of crossing 102 and building the lead. No pressure, maan.

That's the difference between the average and the excellent. The excellent can make things happen, they can summon some inspiration at critical moments. Mostly, they can exploit whatever little is on offer. Brian Lara, for example, amid all his studiousness, played across the line often enough. On more than one occasion in the morning, he had tried to fetch Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath from off stump and angle them to square leg. Later, he was trying to do the same with Harbhajan Singh.

Greater bowlers would have pried him out lbw or have him caught off the leading edge. Sure enough, Lara was eventually out spooning a return catch to Ashish Nehra off the leading edge, but by that time, he and Ramnaresh Sarwan had already taken West Indies 52 runs past the Indian total.

And so the story rolled on, over after over. Never did things look so mundane than when the second new ball was taken. There were the customary two slips and a gully, but hardly anything went that way. The three seamers all came bowled, did nothing special. When they tried to pitch it short, they got about half the nip Mervyn Dillon and friends were generating yesterday. Hooper had so much time, he once had to wait on a pull shot over mid-on.

India haven't yet won a match of any nature - Tests, one-dayers, tour games - at the Kensington Oval. That doesn't look likely to change this weekend. Still, they have some consolation - the worst may be over. Locals will tell you that the best day for batting on this Kensington pitch is day two. The next best? Day three.

Rahul Bhattacharya is a staff writer with Wisden.com India. His reports will appear here throughout the Test series.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd