BRIDGETOWN – West Indies lost the key wicket of Shivnarine Chanderpaul just after tea to raise India’s hopes of pulling off a victory on the fifth and final day of the second Digicel cricket Test against India at Kensington Oval here today.
Chanderpaul was leg before wicket to off-spinner Harhbajan Singh for a patient 12, leaving the West Indies on 109 for four with 34 overs left in the match.
India had set the West Indies a victory target of 281 and struck two early blows, removing opener Lendl Simmons for 14 and Ramnaresh Sarwan for eight to reduce their hosts to 51 for two at lunch.
Opener Adrian Barath was the only casualty in the post-lunch session when he fell for 27, edging a delivery from pacer Ishant Sharma to third slip.
Earlier, India, resuming from 229 for three, declared their second innings at 269 for six after batting for an additional 66 minutes and scoring 40 runs from 13 overs.
Fast bowler Fidel Edwards captured all three wickets – Virat Kohli (27), VSS Laxman (87) and India’s captain Mahendra Dhoni (5), to end with figures of five for 76 in 23 overs.
A victory for India will give them a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series following their 63-run victory in the first Test in Jamaica.(EZS)
