Kingston: Former captain Rahul Dravid hit a gritty unbeaten 69 as India reached 166 for six against West Indies at lunch on the third day of the first Test, thereby extending their overall lead to 239. India were 196/8 off 79 overs as per the latest reports.
Starting their day at 91 for three, India lost Virat Kohli (15), Suresh Raina (27) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (16) while adding 75 runs in the first session of the third day.
Dhoni who was showing a lot of positive intent was out at the stroke of lunch when he tried to cut a long hop from Devendra Bishoo (3/41) being caught by Fidel Edwards at cover.
Young Bishoo infused hope for the hosts by claiming couple of wickets in the final quarter of an hour before lunch as Raina and Dhoni tried to hit their way out of trouble on a track that was difficult for batting.
That’s where Dravid’s 203-ball vigil that contained eight boundaries is all the more praiseworthy. The innings was typically Dravid where the concentration was intense, risk-factor minimal trying to consolidate. On a track with variable bounce where the others found it difficult to defend Dravid played both pace and spin with minumum fuss.
In the morning, it was Kohli who was the first one to depart when he managed to glove one down the leg-side with Edwards digging it short.
Raina, as is his wont, was positive from the moment he arrived and played the rising deliveries well. A straight drive off Edwards was a real treat as Dravid was trying to see off the first hour leaving anything that was a shade outside the off-stump channel.
Raina was done in by smart captaincy after a delivery from leg-spinner Bishoo spun past his bat on the leg-side.
A leg-slip was immediately positioned and Raina now resorted to sweep to tackle the turning deliveries.
His first attempt at it proved was his undoing when he gloved a catch in the leg-slip cordon though the television replays were not conclusive if it really was a chance.
Raina made 27 from 53 balls. (PTI)