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.
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