Close West Indies 297 for 2 (Gayle 154, Ganga 66*, W Hinds 50)against Railways

West Indies' batsmen made the most of a flat batting pitch and some toothless bowling to amass 297 for 2 at stumps on the first day of their three-day match against the Ranji Trophy champions, Railways. Chris Gayle's 154, and his 225-run partnership with Daren Ganga, ensured that Railways spent most of the day on a futile leather-hunt.

Ridley Jacobs, the stand-in captain, won the toss and had little hesitation in opting to bat. Wavell Hinds and Gayle got West Indies off to a blazing start against Railways' new-ball pair of Harvinder Singh and Zakir Hussain. Hinds was in especially good form, spanking 11 fours in his half-century. With the ball rarely rising above the knee-level, both batsmen comfortably plonked their front foot down the pitch and essayed some punishing strokes.

The introduction of spin brought immediate success, when Hinds edged Kulamani Parida, the offspinner, to Jacob Martin at slip for 50 (71 for 1). For the next 68 overs though, the Railways fielders and bowlers toiled under a blazing sun as Gayle and Ganga set about the pleasurable task of run-gathering against a hapless bowling attack.

Gayle's fourth-ball hoick to third man in the second innings at Chennai had obviously sobered him up, and he was all circumspection in the early part of his innings. However, he opened out gradually, and was soon peppering the ground with fluent drives through the off side and powerful sweeps off the spinners. He brought up his hundred in the first over after tea, and looked set to end the day undefeated, when Harvinder breached his defences with the second new ball. Gayle's scored his runs off 294 balls, with 23 fours and two sixes.

Ganga took more time to score his runs, but played with an assurance against the spinners that should make him a strong contender for a middle-order berth at Kolkata. Showing exemplary footwork, he either went down the pitch to smother the spin, or rocked back to play some delightful cut shots. He was largely untroubled against the seamers too, and his cover-driving resembled Carl Hooper's in elegance and fluency.

For Murali Kartik, touted as India's best left-arm spinner, it was another frustrating day. Captain Abhay Sharma gave him plenty of overs, and Kartik kept it fairly tight, but seldom did he look threatening. Both Gayle and Ganga played him without too much bother, and figures of none for 78 from 29 overs (including nine no-balls) meant that he did his chances of a comeback little good.

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