Indian seamers strike early
Roseau (Dominica): In-form pacer Ishant Sharma struck twice as India reduced West Indies to 64 for three at lunch on the opening day of the third and final Test here on Wednesday. With the score at 75/3 rain stopped play with Darren Bravo and Shivnarine Chandrapaul at the crease.
After Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to bowl with the hope that his seamers would get the team some quick wickets, Ishant and Praveen Kumar lived up to the skipper’s expectations by removing Adrian Barath and debutantes Kieran Powell and Kirk Edwards.
Darren Bravo and the experienced Shivnarine Chanderpaul were batting on 17 and 11, respectively, when lunch was called at the Windsor Park here.
Ishant showed no after-effects of a facial injury he suffered yesterday, returning figures of two for 23.
While Kumar gave the team its first breakthrough by having Powell caught at second slip by VVS Laxman, Ishant, bowling the bouncers to good effect, sent back Barath and Edwards.
Ishant, who rattled the hosts with a 10-wicket haul in the drawn second Test at Kensington Oval, looked in good nick here as well.
Munaf Patel, playing his first Test of the three-match series at the expense of Abhimanyu Mithun, bowled economically, though without success.
If Praveen and Ishant began with maiden overs, Munaf, who returned to Test cricket after two years, did even better as first change by bowling three maidens on the trot.
Earlier Powell, who got his first Test runs — a three off a push into covers against Ishant — didn’t get to score any further as Praveen found the edge of his defensive bat with a peach of a delivery. PTI
Barath, after being flustered with a caught behind appeal down the legside by Ishant, edged a pull on to his stumps off the very next delivery.
Ishant picked up his third wicket of the morning when he had Edwards who was unlucky to be judged caught behind by debutant Test umpire Richard Kettleborough of England as the rising delivery hit his helmet, and not bat, on way to Dhoni.
West Indies would now look to Bravo and veteran Chanderpaul to bail them out.
Bravo looked the best of all home batsmen and scored two fours — a square cut against Ishant past point and then a backfoot cover drive against Harbhajan Singh.
While Munaf is the only change in the India line-up, West Indies made two changes, with Powell and Edwards being preferred over Lendl Simmons and Ramnaresh Sarwan. PTI