India's bowlers made early breakthroughs to have the West Indies reeling at 53 for three after being set the unlikely victory target of 346 at lunch on the final day of the third Test in St Lucia on Saturday. West Indies fast-medium bowler Miguel Cummins had earlier reaped a bountiful harvest, taking all four wickets in the morning as India pushed for quick runs to facilitate a declaration after nine overs were bowled at the Darren Sammy National Stadium.
Cummins finished with figures of with six for 48 for a nine-wicket match haul as India closed their second innings at 217 for seven. Ajinkya Rahane kept the runs flowing as the wickets tumbled around him in reaching an unbeaten 78. Frustrated by rain and West Indian defiance in settling for a draw in the second Test in Jamaica, the Indian strike bowlers put the home side immediately on the back foot at the start of their second innings with both openers prised out by the fifth over.
Leon Johnson departed without scoring, fending a lifting delivery from Mohammed Shami into the hands of Rohit Sharma at forward short-leg. His opening partner, Kraigg Brathwaite, fell in the very next over as an inswinger from first innings destroyer Bhuvneshwar Kumar trapped him leg-before for four. Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels attempted to repair the situation from the depths of four for two but Samuels fell to Ishant Sharma 15 minutes before the lunch interval when he was bowled for 12.
His demise brought in Roston Chase ahead of the attacking Jermaine Blackwood with the West Indies obviously hoping that he would replicate the effort of Kingston a week earlier when his maiden Test hundred played a key role in saving the home side from going 2-0 down in the series.
Scoreboard Scoreboard at lunch on the final day of the third Test between the West Indies and India at the Darren Sammy National Stadium in St Lucia on Saturday: India 1st Innings - 353 (R Ashwin 118, W Saha 104, L Rahul 50) West Indies 1st Innings - 225 (K Brathwaite 64; B Kumar 5-33)
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India 2nd Innings (overnight 157 for 3)
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L. Rahul c Brathwaite b Cummins 28
S. Dhawan lbw Chase 26
V. Kohli lbw Cummins 4
A. Rahane not out 78
R. Sharma lbw Cummins 41
W. Saha c wkpr Dowrich b Cummins 14
R. Jadeja c Samuels b Cummins 16
R. Ashwin c Brathwaite c Cummins 1
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Extras: (b-1, lb-2, nb-6) 9
Total: (48 overs, 7 wkts declared) 217
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Fall of wickets: 1-49 (Rahul), 2-58 (Kohli), 3-72 (Dhawan), 4-157 (R. Sharma), 5-181 (Saha), 6-213 (Jadeja), 7-217 (Ashwin)
Did not bat: I. Sharma, M. Shami, B. Kumar
Bowling: S. Gabriel 3-0-19-0 (1nb), A. Joseph 4-0-23-0 (2nb), M. Cummins 11-1-48-6 (3nb), J. Holder 9-1-50-0, R. Chase 11-1-41-1, K. Brathwaite 10-1-33-0.
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West Indies 2nd Innings
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K. Brathwaite lbw Kumar 4
L. Johnson c R. Sharma b Shami 0
D. Bravo not out 26
M. Samuels b I. Sharma 12
R. Chase not out 10
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Extras: (nb-1) 1
Total (20 overs, 3 wkts) 53
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Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Johnson), 2-4 (Brathwaite), 3-35 (Samuels)
To bat: J. Blackwood, S. Dowrich, J. Holder, A. Joseph, M. Cummins, S. Gabriel
Bowling: B. Kumar 6-1-12-1, M. Shami 5-0-5-1, I. Sharma 3-0-17-1 (1nb), R. Ashwin 4-0-16-0, R. Jadeja 2-1-3-0
West Indies need another 293 runs to win with seven second-innings wickets remaining
Toss: West Indies
Umpires: Nigel Llong (ENG), Rod Tucker (AUS)
Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SLK).
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