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June 23, 2006 (Click to see the Scorecard)

West Indies failed in their mission of compiling a mammoth first innings total and getting India to bat in the dying moments of Day 2 because of the heavy rain that hit St.Kitts during the Tea Interval. There wasn’t a single delivery bowled during the post tea session. The outfield has taken quite a beating because of the heavy showers and the possibility of play starting up on time tomorrow look rather slim. Of course nothing is ruled out yet and we might get to see the action on time. For now India are a much relieved side as they have delayed the possible West Indian declaration. The homeside may have wanted to put up 600 on the board but they are stuck at the moment at 420 for 5.

 
Tale of the Morning Session

Play started half an hour early to make up for the lost time yesterday due to the wet outfield. It was Ramnaresh Sarwan’s 26th birthday today and he batted with ease along with Daren Ganga to keep the momentum going for the homeside. India had taken the 2nd new ball after the completion of the 80 overs with the old ball not proving to be effective. Both the batsmen progressed well by playing their shots and Ganga soon reached his 3rd Test Century which might save his place as an opening batsmen for few more Tests. It was a crashing square cut for four that gave Ganga his hundred as Munaf bowled a gentle loosener to the batsman who was bogged down for sometime on 99. One particular over from Munaf Patel saw Ramnaresh Sarwan smashing six consecutive boundaries and that allowed the birthday boy to move into the 90s rapidly. It was the fourth most expensive over in Test Cricket with 25 runs coming from that including a no ball. Sarwan took just 132 balls to reach his 9th Test hundred and it had come with the help of 16 fours and a six off Sehwag in this session. Munaf who was brought back just few minutes before the lunch break struck twice to repair his figures. First he got Ganga to play onto his stumps as the right hander had played a loose defensive shot and Munaf had got the ball to climb up just a bit. Daren Ganga fell after making 135 and this was his career best score in Tests. After that Lara (10) got a beauty from Munaf that angled away every so slightly to bend back to rap him up on the pads. West Indies went to lunch at 362 for 3 and the session was totally dominated by them with the runs coming thick and fast.
 

Tale of the Afternoon Session

Sreesanth got the ball to reverse and one of his inswingers had trapped Ramnaresh Sarwan in the crease. The batsman was looking to flick it after shuffling across and it wasn’t a great decision from Rudi Koertzen with the ball most probably doing a bit too much to miss the leg stump. Sarwan fell for 116 and West Indies at this stage were at 371 for 4. It might have been a commanding total but their intentions of pushing along the scoring at a good rate came to a halt as the Indians tightened the screws on the new batsmen. Harbhajan got his first wicket of the match as Bravo made room himself to steer the off spinner to the vacant third man region but failed in doing so as he got a nick behind. Bravo was foxed by the length and it was also a straighter one from the Turbanator. After Bravo, Samuels had joined Chanderpaul and the Indians kept a heavy lid on the scoring rate. Harbhajan was unlucky not to get Samuels through a bat pad catch as Brian Jerling failed in picking that. West Indies scratched their way to Tea at 420 for 5 with Chanderpaul struggling to push the game forward. The former West Indian skipper was on 24 from 87 balls. West Indies could add up just 58 runs in that session where only 26 overs were bowled.

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