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Saturday, Jul 01, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

West Indies makes early inroads

S. Ram Mahesh

Kingston: The unfinished North Stand at Sabina Park has about it the look of a Roman coliseum. Tier upon tier of grey cement, describing a segment of an ellipse, look down on the field. On Friday morning, Team India might have considered the prospect of facing lions in front of a blood-thirsty multitude with some favour.

For, after Rahul Dravid won a tricky toss, and chose to bat, the combination of a clammy, capricious playing strip, and disciplined line and length from the West Indies bowlers proved a formidable foe. The track had triggered much comment even before it was set official foot on: Brian Lara hadn't seemed particularly pleased with Charlie, the groundsman, when he had a look on Thursday.

`Under-prepared wicket'

The local dailies had the home skipper saying that it would help the spinners. At the toss, he said the pitch was under-prepared. There was a touch of surface moisture on Friday morning — Dravid may have been tempted to insert the opposition, but often such strips demand a sucking in of the gut, and the playing out of the first session.

The decision to bat covers two bases: if the underneath surface is wet, the moisture will be continually drawn to the surface by the sun, giving the seamers something to work with over two to three days. In that case, a low first innings score can be counter-balanced by an incisive effort when it's time to bowl. Should the track dry out, batting gets easier before the spinners come into the act.

With both Anil Kumble and Harbhajan in the side, Dravid's decision wasn't hard to comprehend. India's first dismissal, in any case, had little to do with the pitch. Virender Sehwag turned the third ball of the innings into short-leg Ramnaresh Sarwan's palms. One for one.

Laxman edged short of first slip, as the track began playing up. Abrupt bounce was de jure from the South Stand end, though suddenly one would creep along forcing batsman to drop bat hurriedly on ball. Jerome Taylor had Wasim Jaffer with a beauty. The quick, playing in front of a home crowd comprising a few hundred that were perhaps more keen on Argentina v Germany, straightened one at pace as Jaffer's front-foot defence was breached.

All the skill and strength of will Laxman and Dravid could summon was proving just enough. The bowlers gave nothing away, peskily pecking away or disconcertingly hustling as their pace allowed. Maidens were stacked together. Rahul Dravid off-drove Bravo for the first boundary of the innings in the 19th over. Runs trickled at less that one an over!

Missed chance

Lara, at second slip, dropped Laxman (5). India was on 12 for two then — it could have spelt disaster. The sinuous right-hander from Hyderabad may have done his side more intangible good than the unbroken 26-run partnership that helped India go to lunch at 29 for two off 29 overs.

Laxman pulled one as Sarwan went to ground, hit below his left knee. The blow was sickening; Sarwan didn't come back in the first session. Experts in the commentary box wondered if he would play a further part.

Earlier, both sides named unchanged elevens from the third Test at St. Kitts.

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