The West Indies snatched a thrilling draw with the scores level after India failed to score the three runs they needed for victory in the final over on a riveting final day of their third and final Test yesterday.
Needing two runs to win off the final ball, Ravichandran Ashwin and Varun Aaron scampered a single before Ashwin was run out while going back for an improbable second run, with India finishing on 242 for nine.
It was only the second time that a Test has been drawn with the scores level. The other instance was when England failed to beat Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 1996.
Photo: Reuters
Seventeen wickets fell on the Wankhede Stadium pitch, which was a batting paradise on the first four days with both teams posting huge first innings totals.
Spinners Pragyan Ojha and Ashwin forced a batting collapse in the first session as the West Indies were bundled out for 134 in their second innings.
Half-centuries from Virender Sehwag (60) and Virat Kohli (63) put India on course for victory and a 3-0 series whitewash as they chased a target of 243 runs from 64 overs.
However, the West Indies struck back by picking up crucial wickets during the closing stages to halt India’s progress.
Sehwag stroked a chancy 60 off 65 balls and added 82 runs for the second wicket with Rahul Dravid (33) to launch India’s charge toward the target.
Sehwag, who was dropped three times, hit eight boundaries before he was finally caught by the West Indies captain Darren Sammy off leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo while trying a cheeky reverse paddle sweep.
Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar (3) fell soon after in similar fashion, trying to drive on the up against part-time off-spinner Marlon Samuels and were caught at short midwicket.
The West Indies had a sniff of victory at that stage with India at 113 for four, but Vangipurappu Laxman (31) and Kohli steadied the ship with a 52-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Kohli notched up his second half-century in the match with three boundaries and a six, and took his team close to the target, but his dismissal, with India still needing 19 runs to win, put the pressure back on India’s tailenders.
In the morning, the visiting batsmen, put under pressure by the generous turn on offer, played some atrocious shots and helped India’s spinners give life to a match that had looked like ending in a draw for the past two days.
Resuming on their overnight score of 81 for two, the tourists succumbed meekly in just 95 minutes in the morning, losing their final eight wickets in 23.2 overs as Ojha (6-47) and Ashwin (4-34) ran riot.
Left-arm spinner Ojha added four more wickets to his overnight tally of two and bowled in an uninterrupted spell on the final day, extracting good turn and bounce.
Ashwin, who notched his maiden Test century on Friday, took four wickets to add to his five-wicket haul in the first innings.
Kraigg Brathwaite (35) and first-innings centurion Darren Bravo (48) added 61 for the third wicket, the only notable partnership in the innings, but Braithwaite’s dismissal in the fifth over of the morning opened the floodgates.
The West Indies lost their final eight wickets for 43 runs as Bravo, Samuels, Carlton Baugh, Ravi Rampaul and Sammy all got out trying to play attacking shots against the Indian spinners.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
A man fell from the 6.4m-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park in Pittsburgh during Wednesday night’s game between the Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Right after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put the Pirates ahead 4-3, players began waving frantically for medical personnel and pointing to the man, who had fallen onto the warning track. The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel before being removed from the field on a cart. The team issued a statement shortly
PAINFUL VICTORY: Ruud said that felt pain in his rib during the warmup and was put on painkillers so that he could finish the match against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo With the help of painkillers, Casper Ruud overcame a rib ailment to defeat Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets and reach the Madrid Open final on Friday. Ruud is to face Jack Draper, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi-final to make his third final of the year. Ruud received treatment on his rib three games into the match and went on to win 6-4, 7-5 on the Caja Magica center court. The 15th-ranked Norwegian saved 15 of the 18 break points he faced against the 21st-ranked Argentine. Ruud said he felt something in his rib during the warmup, just before
RSS