BBC SPORT | Cricket | Birthday boy shines for India

2nd Test, Madras. West Indies 167: India 31-0, stumps, day one

The West Indies threw away the advantage of winning the toss by producing a dismal effort with the bat and they now face a battle royale to avoid losing here.

Anil Kumble took five for 30 on his 32nd birthday and Harbhajan Singh chipped in with three wickets as the Caribbean batsmen folded to the slow-ball pairing.

The Windies were not helped by a painfully slow scoring rate, made to look particularly absurd when Virender Sehwag raced to 24 not out at stumps off just 21 balls.

Earlier, the tourists had crept to 45 for one at lunch having lost Chris Gayle when off-spinner Harbhajan finally persuaded the left-hander to play an injudicious shot.

Parthiv Patel and Ramnaresh Sarwan
Sarwan tries to hit runs through the covers

Wavell Hinds was out shortly after the interval, having laboured to 18 off 97 balls before falling lbw to Anil Kumble.

And when Ramnaresh Sarwan was bowled by Javagal Srinath 10 overs later it wa suddenly 62 for three.

Day one photos from Madras

Carl Hooper finally injected some much-needed aggression to the West Indies batting but his dismissal for a top score of 35 left them in poor shape at tea on 117 for four.

Hooper's dismissal was the key moment of the day for India. The Windies captain was scoring at nearly a run a ball when he drove Zaheer Khan's slow half-volley straight to Sourav Ganguly at cover.

Kumble and Harbhajan then made short work of the tail in the final session, giving India's openers - Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar - eight overs to bat in before stumps.

Perfect day

Sehwag smashed three boundaries off the second over, bowled by Pedro Collins, to cap a perfect day for the home side.

India went into the game 1-0 up in the series after a comprehensive victory by an innings and 112 runs in the first Test.

The freshly-laid track at Madras was expected to give the spinners plenty of assistance after the third day, but it has already been too much for the tourists.

India were unchanged while West Indies tried two debutant bowlers in Jermaine Lawson and Gareth Breese.

India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sanjay Bangar, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan.

West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ryan Hinds, Gareth Breese, Ridley Jacobs, Mervyn Dillon, Pedro Collins and Jermaine Lawson.

Umpires: David Shepherd (England) and Asoka D'Silva (Sri Lanka).

March Referee: Mike Proctor (South Africa)


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