Close India 226 for 3 (Dravid 86*, Ganguly 41*)
scorecard

A stunning two-wicket burst from Pedro Collins marred an otherwise perfect day for the Indian batsmen at the St. Johns recreation Ground in Antigua. In an action-packed over shortly after tea, Collins fired out Wasim Jaffer and Sachin Tendulkar – for a first-ball duck – as India slumped to 168 for 3. After that, Rahul Dravid battened down the hatches while Sourav Ganguly added another coat to his purple patch as the Indians finished the day on a respectable 226 for 3.

Except for some sparkling strokeplay from Ganguly late in the day, the final session was a grafting exercise. Dravid went 37 minutes without a run just prior to the second new ball being taken, as the West Indian bowlers applied the tourniquet. It had been all so different as Jaffer and Dravid batted with flair and authority during their 155-run association for the second wicket. Jaffer was in superb touch, from the moment that he drove Cameron Cuffy twice off the back foot for fours early in the morning. Even the loss of opening partner, Shiv Sunder Das – bowled, after living on the inside edge for the umpteenth time – failed to dampen his enthusiasm as he eased to 48 by lunch. Some of his strokeplay was simply gorgeous, especially the back-foot drives, flowing straight drives and clever nudges down to third man.

Dravid's approach was far more sedate, but he seldom looked troubled by a bowling attack that lost most of its steam by lunchtime. Two gorgeous on-drives studded the early part of his innings, even as he played second fiddle to his junior partner. He started proceedings after lunch with an imperious square cut off Mervyn Dillon but was fortunate to escape unscathed when an Adam Sanford bouncer hit him on the back of the shoulder after he took his eyes off it. Dravid's response was emphatic, as he pulled Sanford for four, and then played a sparkling on-drive that raced to the ropes.

He went past fifty – his second of the series - with a classical cover-drive off Pedro Collins, bowling round the wicket, as West Indies started to wilt in late afternoon. Hooper experimented with his own bowling, and that of Wavell Hinds and Ramnaresh Sarwan. Nothing worked though and Dravid straight-drove Hooper for four, before watching Jaffer pull Hinds disdainfully to the midwicket fence, as India went in for their cuppa with spirits high.

But Collins, who had been given the treatment by both batsmen, came back with a new spring in his stride after his cuppa and his two wickets – he was West Indies' only wicket-taker for the day - changed the complexion of the game. First to go was Jaffer, his fine innings coming to a rather anti-climactic end when he edged one through to Ridley Jacobs behind the stumps. The ball left him a shade and Jaffer kept the bat face a touch too open. The disappointment on his face as he trudged back said it all.

But that was nothing compared to the sense of disbelief that gripped the Indian camp as Tendulkar failed for a fourth innings in succession. The wobble became a full-fledged crisis even as Collins scented a hat-trick. A beautiful delivery accounted for Tendulkar, who could only get a thin edge through to Jacobs. It brought up the first time Sachin had made four single-figure Test scores in a row; three of them ducks - his tour went from bad to simply dreadful.

Dravid eked out his runs in the final session, even as Ganguly took the fight to the bowlers. A magnificent flat-batted pull for six off Sanford was the highlight of his innings, though his approach to the short ball was equally praiseworthy. He wasn't always elegance personified, but the runs were priceless for a team that has a predilection for the grand collapse. By close of play, India were once more in the ascendancy, albeit slightly, with Jaffer having taken another giant stride in a career that promises much. This, though, is a ground that Brian Lara loves batting on, and India will need another 100-plus runs to put the pressure on a West Indian batting line-up that is high on confidence.

Teams
India 1 SS Das, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Ajay Ratra (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Javagal Srinath, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.

West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Brian Lara, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Carl Hooper (capt), 6 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Mervyn Dillon, 9 Cameron Cuffy, 10 Pedro Collins, 11 Adam Sanford.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

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