Hooper, Chanderpaul Frustrate India

India's faint hopes of winning the fourth Test at St John's all but evaporated on the penultimateday here with the batting of Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul proving to be their nemesis for the third time inthe series.

The two West Indian batsmen, who already had two double century partnerships in the series, put on 184 runs for thefifth wicket as the hosts comfortably averted the follow-on and ended the fourth day yesterday at 405 for five in reply tothe visitors' score of 513 for nine declared.

As Hooper struck his third century of the series, before getting out for 136 towards the end of the day, the Indianscould not help but rue the missed chances on the third day when, in an awe-inspiring performance, a heavily bandaged AnilKumble had very nearly dismissed the West Indian captain three times with the batsman still to enter the 20s.

But neither was there Kumble, who left for India to have his jaw fracture operated upon, nor the chances yesterday asHooper played a near-flawless knock to continue his dream run in the series which has already seen him amass more than 500runs, a career-best aggregate.

Chanderpaul, who remained unbeaten on 80 in the company of Ridley Jacobs (18), was not far behind and also approachinghis third hundred of the series.

The Indians toiled hard the entire day but all they earned was two wickets. Zaheer Khan trapped Ramnaresh Sarwan for 51in the third over of the day before Sachin Tendulkar got rid of Hooper.

A Test hundred still eluded the talented Sarwan who once again failed to convert a half-century into a ton. He was outfor 51 which contained six hits to the fence.

The fourth West Indian wicket fell at 198 and another quick wicket, either of Hooper and Chanderpaul, would haveconsiderably increased India's hopes of bowling out the hosts within the follow-on mark of 314, thus raising their chancesof forcing a win in the match.

But that was not to be as Hooper started flaying the Indian attack right from the start. He hit Zaheer Khan for twoboundaries in the very first over and even lofted Tendulkar for a six over long-off as he raced to his half-century.

Chanderpaul too played positively and the Indian bowlers, though accurate, were unable to crash through the defences ofthe two batsmen.

The only time the Indian bowlers were on the top was during the first 45 minutes of the post-lunch session whenthey kept things extremely tight. Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan produced miserly spells and the first 11 overs after thebreak, at which point West Indies were 266 for four, yielded just nine runs.

But the two batsmen saw through the spell and when Chanderpaul cut Ashish Nehra, who replaced Srinath, for a fourto the point boundary, the first runs after 32 deliveries, the shackles had been broken. Hooper took a four off Zaheer Khanin the next over before lofting Sourav Ganguly over long-on for his second six.

A straight-driven four in the same over by Ganguly saw Hooper reach his 13th Test ton, his second consecutive centuryafter the 115 he scored in the previous match at Barbados.

Chanderpaul then carried West Indies past the follow-on mark with a straight four off a half-volley from Zaheer Khanwho was bowling left-arm spin at that time. The left-hander then brought up his half-century with another four, hittingTendulkar to the widish third man fence.

West Indies took tea at 340 for four and immediately after the break, Hooper hoisted Tendulkar for his third six into thelong-on stands.

But it was Tendulkar only who brought about the downfall of Hooper. The West Indian skipper charged ahead to a shortball which bounced slightly more than expected and top-edged it to Nehra at point. Hooper batted for more than six and ahalf hours and hit 13 fours besides the three sixes.

Wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs, who was out for nought in the only innings he batted in the previous Test, looked to makeamends for his failure and played a cameo knock. He smashed Tendulkar for a six over long on to raise the 400 of the WestIndian innings.

Tendulkar, trying to compensate for his batting failure and also in an effort to make up for the absence ofKumble, bowled no less than 30 overs, conceding 94 runs for two wickets. Zaheer Khan claimed two for 102.

PTI