Lara jumped for joy when he reached his 23rd Test ton

Lara's fireworks at the end of the third day, when he hit two sixes and four fours in the over, were the highlight of a superb unbeaten 178.

He guided his side past the follow-on total as they finished the day on 363-6, 198 runs behind.

"I had no intention of going for it," said the West Indies captain.

"I just wanted to get as many runs as possible."

Lara said Indian duo VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, who hit 303 for the fifth wicket against Australia in Adelaide on Sunday, had inspired him.

He said: "India are playing the best team in the world and we are playing against the second best team.

"I used some of India's strength. We are the underdogs and we need to fight."

When he hit the first ball for four me and [captain] Graeme [Smith] both thought, 'He won't try it again'. Robin Peterson on Brian Lara, who hit 26 off one over Day three match report

For Peterson it was a day to forget.

The 24-year-old spinner was only playing in his fourth Test match and had respectable bowling figures until he conceded 26 in his final over to end with 76 from 13 overs.

Peterson said: "When he hit the first ball for four me and [captain] Graeme [Smith] both thought, 'He won't try it again'.

"After the second ball we looked at each other and thought, 'He won't try it again'.

"After the third ball we thought, 'He definitely won't try it again now'. Unfortunately we thought that all through the over."

He said: "Hopefully I'll learn from it and be a better bowler as a result."