Bangar Steadies India

Sanjay Bangar stood out with his grit and determination as he anchored India to a decent total on an exciting opening day of the third and final Test at the Eden Gardens today even as the West Indies enjoyed their mostsatisfying day of the series so far.

Aiming for a 3-0 sweep of the series, India were placed at 275 for six when bad light forced the end of day's playhalf an hour after scheduled time with seven overs still remaining to be bowled.

On a day when other batsmen threw away the advantage after being well settled, Bangar, who is proving a veryconsistent performer in the opening slot, played a sparkling 77-run knock, comprising two contrasting halves.

Bangar scored only 41 runs in the first two sessions off 151 balls before shifting gears in the last session which sawhim score 36 from just 50 balls which included seven fours.

Bangar was associated in useful partnerships with Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and skipperSaurav Ganguly - all of whom got out in the 30s - but it was during the fifth wicket association with V.V.S. Laxman that he flourished themost.

Bangar and Laxman, who made 48 with eight fours, added 77 runs before getting out 29 runs from each other. West Indies, who have had a miserable series so far,probably had their most productive day today with all their four seamers and skipper Carl Hooper sharing the six wicketsto fall.

The Indians, who elected to bat after winning the toss, were off to a good start with the unstoppable Sehwag onceagain launching his onslaught early in the innings.

He made his intentions clear in the second over of the match when he despatched Cameron Cuffy to the extra coverfence for the first boundary of the innings. The dashing batsman then hit Mervyn Dillon to the third man boundarybefore blasting him for two more fours in the bowler's next over.

Sehwag batted in his usual whirlwind fashion but failed to translate a good aggressive start into a big score. Aftermaking 35 runs off 35 balls with six boundaries, he was trapped leg before wicket by Dillon.

Rahul Dravid, who has been in top form in recent times, was unfortunate to be declared leg before wicket by umpireDavid Shepherd as television replays clearly showed he had played the ball from Darren Powell. Dravid could score just 14and India lost their second wicket at 72.

Bangar, who got a life on five when Shivnarine Chanderpaul failed to hold on to a edge despite a valiant diving effort, kept chugging along in the company of Tendulkar who got a standing ovation from the crowd as he entered theground.

The two batsmen took India's score to 98 for two at lunch with Tendulkar, who looked in fine touch, having alreadyovertaken his partner.

Tendulkar hit a few agressive shots and an elegant straight drive against Darren Powell was a treat to theeyes.

But Tendulkar had scored just 12 runs after the lunch break when a rash stroke brought a premature end to hisinnings. He chased a wide delivery from Jermaine Lawson and gave a regulation catch to Chris Gayle at third slip.

Tendulkar faced 65 balls for his 36 runs which included seven hits to the fence. His third wicket association withBangar was worth 44 runs.

Local hero Ganguly then joined the action and thrilled the packed stadium by opening his account with a boundary.Ganguly, who was chasing his first-ever century at his home ground, batted quite confidently during his 30-run knock whichcontained five boundaries.

However, with just three balls to go for tea, he attempted a cut shot against Hooper and only managed a snickthat was well taken by wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs.

Having sent back the four most dreaded batsmen in the Indian camp, the West Indians wore a very satisfied look atthe tea break.

But they still had Bangar and Laxman, whose legendary  281-run knock against Australia came at this ground, tocontend with and the two batsmen made sure that they were not taken lightly by the West Indian bowlers.

Bangar was a totally transformed batsman after the tea break as he started cutting and pulling with ease and quicklyraced into his seventies. In fact, Bangar had been trying to open up in the second half of the post-lunch session itselfbut he succeeded only after tea.

Resuming at his tea score of 41, Bangar quickly raised his fourth half-century in 12 Tests with his sixth four. Afterthat, he traded in boundaries hitting a few spectacular pulls and drives.

Laxman also played a few elegant strokes on the off-side as the Indian scoring perked up all of a sudden.

For a batsman who had stubbornly defied the attack, Bangar's end came in a most anti-climactic way. After gettingaway with an inside-edged boundary to the third man, Bangar lobbed a simple catch to Wavel Hinds at covers off an ordinarydelivery from Cuffy.

The young Patel tried to match Laxman in elegance and played a few classy strokes in their brief partnership of 29runs for the sixth wicket.

Laxman was just two runs short of a well-deserved half century when he edged Dillon to Gayle in the slips. Laxmanfaced 87 balls and hit eight boundaries.

Patel, who remained unbeaten on 18, and Harbhajan Singh, not out on three, then played out the remaining overs of theday.

PTI