The match finally came to its expected dull end, with only one innings completed in five days.The highlight of the day was Shivnarine Chanderpaul's third century of the series. He has been very solid in this series, and it is very pleasing to see him regularly converting his half-centuries into big knocks. This was something that he struggled to do in his early years in international cricket.

Ramnaresh Sarwan should take a leaf out of Chanderpaul's book. Sarwan faces the same problem that Chanderpaul did early in his career. Sarwan's still young, and no unnecessary pressure should be put on him to start making centuries. He is a talented player, and it is only a matter of time before he starts getting the big hundreds.

Chanderpaul's innings was hardly surprising. He just wanted to remain undefeated at the end of the day, to increase his batting average. I don't think that it was necessary for him to go after the bowling, once he got his hundred.

It was also pleasing to see Ridley Jacobs get a century. He had a lot to prove after being left out of the first two tests, and he made good use of the placid Antigua wicket. His innings was delightful to watch, and this will give him a lot of confidence for the final test. India did use a lot of part-time bowlers, but a Test hundred is a Test hundred, regardless of the bowling.

There are other positives that the West Indies can take from this game. It was a difficult task to avoid the follow-on once they lost the wicket of Brian Lara. Hooper batted exceptionally well with both Sarwan and Chanderpaul, and they managed quite easily. No doubt it was a good batting surface, but once you are chasing a total in excess of five hundred, there is always a lot of pressure.

The wicket in Jamaica will initially help the fast bowlers, and should assist the spinners later on. There will be a more even contest between bat and ball, and thats how it should be. I cannot predict whether West Indies will play a spinner along with their seam attack, but it would come in handy, considering that West Indies do not have four top-class fast bowlers. I don't think that either side can be considered favourites.These are evenly matched, with an equal chance of winning at Sabina Park.

Michael Holding, a key member of the West Indies pace quartet of the 1970s and '80s, will be contributing the Wisden Verdict for all the Tests in this series. He was talking to Dhruv Mullick.

More West Indian Verdicts
Day 1 Kookaburra blues
Day 2 Funny bouncers at 82mph
Day 3 Lucky Hooper
Day 4 Dead Test

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