Hinds, Gayle Lift WI Spirits

Wavell Hinds hit the first West Indian century of the series in a determined opening wicketpartnership with Chris Gayle as the tourists made a spirited reply to the Indian first innings score on the second day of the third and final Test at the Eden Gardens today.

Hinds and Gayle put on 172 runs for the opening wicket in nearly four hours of dogged batting but off-spinner HarbhajanSingh had brought the smiles back on Indian faces by the end of day's play with three quick wickets which saw West Indiesslip to 189 for three.

Harbhajan Singh had Hinds caught by skipper Saurav Ganguly for exactly 100 runs before dismissing RamnareshSarwan and night-watchman Mervyn Dillon in the same over to neutralise the West Indian advantage.

But Gayle remained unbeaten on a well-compiled 80 runs in the company of Shivnarine Chanderpaul who was on one.

Earlier, the Indian first innings folded on 358 after being well-served by useful contributions from young wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel and veteran speedster Javagal Srinath. The two put on 73 runs for the eighth wicket afterIndia resumed at their overnight 275 for six.

Patel missed his maiden Test half-century by just three runs, making a career-best 47 while Srinath scored a whirlwind46 off 40 balls with seven fours and the only six of the Indian innings.

However, the day belonged to Hinds and Gayle who lifted the spirits of their team, playing for pride after havingalready lost the series, with their fine batting performance.

The duo batted positively and were quite impressive against the spinners who have tormented their team on thisseries. Though both Harbhajan and Anil Kumble had their moments and did cause a few problems to the batsmen but abreakthrough eluded them until the last half an hour of play.

Gayle was the more aggressive of the two and easily outscored his partner. He played some fine drives againstKumble and pounced upon any loose delivery on offer.

The Indians relied mostly on spin and Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra bowled only three and six overs respectively intheir first spells.

Having started about half an hour before lunch, the two batsmen took the West Indian score to 109 by tea with Hindshaving already posted his tenth half-century.

Hinds scored quickly in the last session and raised his hundred with a single off a sweep shot against Harbhajan. He faced 190 deliveries for his third century in 27thTest which was studded with 16 boundaries.

But Hinds, who started attempting big hits immediately after reaching the milestone, could not stay long after that.Trying to sweep Harbhajan to the mid-wicket fence, Hinds hit straight into the hands of Ganguly, who had placedhimself at square leg only a couple of balls earlier.

The fall of Hinds was a big psychological boost to the Indians and they stepped up the pressure. The West Indianbatsmen also seemed bogged down a bit and scoring virtually stopped for sometime as Harbhajanand Nehra squeezed in a few tight overs.

In a bid to break the shackles, Gayle came dancing down the pitch to loft Harbhajan for a spectacular six overlong on and followed it with a hit to the mid-wicket fence for a four in the next ball.

But Harbhajan came back strongly in the next over to dismiss both Sarwan and Dillon within a space of three balls. Sarwan was the victim of a smart stumping by Patel following a beautiful delivery that spun the other way,leaving him stranded out of his crease. Sarwan made just two runs from 22 balls which reflected the difficulty the WestIndians faced after the fall of Hinds.

Just two balls later, Harbhajan produced a yorker to uproot the off-stump of Dillon who had absolutely no clueto the delivery. Dillon failed to score.

As the Indians celebrated, the West Indian batsmen came under tremendous pressure during the last 10-15 minutes ofplay. Both Gayle and Chanderpaul heaved a sigh of relief when the umpires offered them light and gleefully agreed to calloff the day's play.

Earlier, Patel and Srinath boosted India's total after the hosts had lost Harbhajan in the opening over of the day.Harbhajan was clean bowled by Cameron Cuffy who finished with figures of two for 84. Dillon was the mostsuccessful West Indian bowlers claiming three wickets for 82 runs.

Patel, whose previous best in Test cricket was 23, played a few delicate shots while Srinath engaged in the big-hittingact. The two took the score to 353 before India lost their last three wickets for five runs.

PTI