Close India 237 for 7 (Tendulkar 86) and 212 need 171 runs to beat West Indies 422 and 197 (Chanderpaul 59, Zaheer 4-79) The Indian dream of an overseas series win faded into oblivion as West Indies moved to within three wickets of victory by close of play on the fourth day. Set an imposing 408, India were in the hunt briefly when Sachin Tendulkar was blazing away. Once he fell for 86 to Pedro Collins– West Indies' player of the day – the scenario was as gloomy as the weather at Sabina Park today.

Collins and Adam Sanford shared six of the seven wickets to fall. Significantly, neither Mervyn Dillon nor Cameron Cuffy, the most successful bowlers in this series for West Indies, were among the wickets. The pitch showed increasingly variable bounce, but only Tendulkar's dismissal could be attributed to the vagaries of the track. Rahul Dravid was out to a good delivery, while the other batsmen fell to a combination of rash strokes and misfortune. The clouds hovered for much of the day and thundershowers had been forecast for Wednesday, but India's batsmen seemed determined not to give the weather an opportunity to get in the way of a defeat.

For India to have any chance of making a match of it, they needed a good start. SS Das and Wasim Jaffer saw off the first nine overs, but Collins struck in his first. It was a none-too-distinguished delivery – slightly short on leg stump – but Jaffer flicked it from the middle of the bat straight to Wavell Hinds at forward short leg (19 for 1). Jaffer made just 7, his second failure of the match.

Umpire Russel Tiffin then did Das in, adjudging him lbw off a Collins delivery which pitched about three inches outside leg. It was a poor decision by Tiffin, and ensured that Tendulkar walked in with the scoreline reading a familiar 25 for 2.

For much of their 52-run partnership, Dravid was dominant, defending solidly and stroking the ball crisply. He'd moved to 26 off 32 balls by lunch, but added only four more after the break before being trapped in front by an in-dipper from Sanford (77 for 3).

Tendulkar began in circumspect fashion, scoring only 7 from 30 balls before lunch. His footwork was unsure, and he eschewed all flourishes. But he started the afternoon session with a square-driven four off Cuffy, setting the tone for the rest of the session.

Dillon's introduction into the attack was greeted with a punch through cover, but that was only the appetiser. He stepped up a gear soon, essaying an exquisite square-drive off a delivery which was on a good length, and only fractionally outside off. Four overs later, he waded into Dillon. First, a widish delivery was immaculately driven through cover, on bended knee. Then, a short ball on middle-and-off was pulled to the midwicket boundary. Next ball, he flicked one on middle-and-leg for three runs to bring up his half-century. Tendulkar was on fire and Carl Hooper went on the defensive immediately, reducing the slip cordon to two and posting a sweeper at cover.

The runs continued to flow, and the fifty-partnership came up in just 60 balls. Hooper brought himself on, but that didn't help staunch the runs either. With Ganguly playing his part perfectly, India went to tea at a healthy 166 for 3.

Things went horribly wrong for them after the break. Collins struck the crucial blow, bowling from round the wicket and getting rid of Tendulkar. The ball pitched just outside off, came in and kept a fraction low, beating Tendulkar's defence and crashing into off-and-middle (170 for 4). Tendulkar looked devasted; all of Sabina Park erupted. It was the third time that Collins had dismissed him this series.

The party got louder when Ganguly pulled a short one from Sanford straight to Ramnaresh Sarwan at square leg for 28 (176 for 5). India had lost two well-set batsmen within six runs of each other.

VVS Laxman was the second Indian batsman to fall to the pull shot, holing out to Dillon at midwicket off Sanford for 23. It was an excellent effort from Dillon, running backwards and taking the catch over his head (209 for 6).

With the light closing in rapidly, Hooper brought on offspinner Chris Gayle, and he struck in his second over, when Harbhajan Singh scooped a catch to Cuffy at mid-on for 17 (228 for 7). Ajay Ratra and Zaheer Khan survived till the umpires offered them the light.

Earlier, West Indies' last four wickets added 32 runs. Shivnarine Chanderpaul left early, caught and bowled by Zaheer for 59, but the tail wagged valiantly, with Collins adding 20 to his overnight 4 to register his highest Test score.

A target of 408 was always likely to be a tall order, and by close of play, West Indies were well on their way to victory. A washout on the last day is India's only chance of saving the match. For cricket's sake, let's hope that doesn't happen.

Teams
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.

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 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Javagal Srinath, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.

S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com in India.

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