FAST bowlers Fidel Edwards and Ishant Sharma and left-handed batsman Darren Bravo were the stars on the final day of the second Digicel Test match between the West Indies and India which ended in an exciting draw at the Kensington Oval in Barbados yesterday.
Edwards took his ninth five-wicket haul in Tests as India declared their second innings closed on 269 for 6, setting the West Indies 281 to win, of which Darren Bravo struck a patient 73 while Sharma took 4 for 53 to end with match figures of 10-108.
Scores in the match: India 201 and 269 for 6 declared, West Indies 190 and 202 for 7
Having scored 40 runs from the 13 overs sent down by the West Indies, with Edwards taking the three wickets to fall, India made a sporting declaration at 10:36hrs, to set up an exciting day’s play for the hundreds of spectators who entered the venue free of charge.
Adrian Barath and Lendl Simmons (14) started shakily, scoring boundaries off thick outside edges off first-innings destroyer Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar respectively to push the score to 18, before Simmons was caught by Rahul Dravid at second slip off Sharma.
Ramnaresh Sarwan (8) replaced Simmons and after playing his trademark cut shot off Kumar, for a boundary, the out-of-form Sarwan was taken at third slip by Suresh Raina off the same bowler in the following over.
Bravo replaced Sarwan and having faced 16 deliveries without scoring a run, he opened his account in fine style by working Abhimanyu Mithun through forward squareleg for four, following Barath’s four off Sharma in the previous over.
A patient looking Barath cut loose in the penultimate over before the lunch break, with a six over point off Mithun, followed by a four through forward square off Harbhajan Singh, raising his team’s 50 in the 16th over with the four.
At the lunch break, the West Indies were 51 for 2 with Barath on 23 and Bravo 5, needing a further 230 to win the match, while India removed Barath who was caught by Raina at slip off Sharma in the second over after lunch for 27.
The 36-year-old Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a veteran of 132 Test matches with over 9 000 Test runs joined Bravo at 55 for 3 in brilliant sunshine on a day which saw play beginning on time and not being interrupted by rain.
Two fours by Bravo off Mithun pushed his score to 20 and the West Indies to 74 for 3 in slightly overcast conditions against the Indian speedsters who were extracting bounce, pace and swing off the track.
While a sedate-looking Chanderpaul picked his deliveries to play at, Bravo took the fight to the Indians who won the first Test by 63 runs, when he struck Mithun for two more fours in successive overs as the West Indies reached their first 100 from 39 overs.
At tea, the West Indies who were battling to prevent India from winning their first Test match at the venue since playing their first game here in 1953 were 108 for 3 with Bravo on 45 and Chanderpaul 12.
India struck in the first over after tea, when Chanderpaul was adjudged lbw to Singh’s arm ball that would have missed the off stump by two feet, much to the surprise of the left-handed batsman, without any addition to his score, while adding 54 for the fourth wicket with Bravo who was on 46.
Marlon Samuels replaced Chanderpaul and watched as Bravo got his fifth Test half-century from 120 balls, hitting seven of them for four while batting for 179 minutes, showing resistance and application – two things that were missing in the home team’s batting.
The 30-year-old Samuels struck Sharma with disdain through point for four, but was adjudged lbw off the next delivery, to hand Sharma his ninth wicket of the match and at the same time, leave the West Indies on 132 for 5, as Carlton Baugh joined Bravo who was on 52.
Bravo continued to fight for the Windies, when he played an injudicious extra cover drive off Sharma that brought oohs and aahs from the crowd, while bringing back memories of his first cousin and fellow Trinidadian Brian Charles Lara.
Baugh joined the boundary hitting act, when he struck Singh for four, which was followed by a six over midwicket that brought the crowd to its feet as the West Indies moved to 157 for 5, with Bravo on 62 and Baugh 15.
Mithun replaced Sharma at the Joel Garner End and was struck for a hat-trick of fours in his second over by Baugh, before rain halted play at 16:30hrs with the West Indies on 181 for 5 with Bravo on 66 and Baugh 33, needing 100 more runs for a come-from-behind victory.
Forty-five (45) minutes of play was lost following the rain interruption, as the Indians complained about the dampness in the 30-yard circle, forcing the umpires to call on the groundsmen to have same roped, while sawdust was thrown in certain areas.
The home team entered the final hour’s play on 187 for 5, with Bravo on 68 and Baugh 37 and the latter moved to 44, when he drove Kumar through mid-off for four, before Bravo was caught at the wicket off Mithun for a resilient and patient 73 made off 174 deliveries with eight fours.
He batted for 286 minutes, but most importantly he shared a match-saving 69-run sixth-wicket partnership with Baugh who was on 46 when his skipper Darren Sammy strode to the wicket in dusky conditions, with the West Indies on 201 for 6.
Sharma got his maiden 10-wicket haul in a Test match, when Sammy was given out lbw, before bad light stopped play at 17:49hrs, with the West Indies on 202 for 7,with Baugh unbeaten on 46 made off 61 deliveries with five fours and one six from 99 minutes of batting, while Sharma ended with 4-53.
Earlier in the day, India resumed on 229 for 3 with VVS Laxman and Virat Kohli on 72 and 26 respectively and lost Kohli who was caught by Sammy at second slip off Edwards’ final ball of the second over of the day.
Laxman steered Edwards past Sammy at second slip for four, but in his attempt to repeat the same shot in the bowler’s next over, when he was 13 runs away from his 17th Test ton, he succeeded in picking out Sammy who took the offer gleefully, ending Laxman’s innings that lasted for 263 minutes and was decorated with eight fours.
Skipper MS Dhoni (05) joined Raina (12*), but never suggested permanence and confirmed same when he picked out Shivnarine Chanderpaul at mid-off to hand the 29-year-old Edwards his ninth five-wicket haul in his 45th Test match.
Harbhajan Singh (6*) replaced Dhoni and in the rush to score quickly, top edged his first delivery from Edwards to long leg for four, before the declaration came at 10:36hrs, with India on 269 for 6, made against Edwards’ 5-76, before the exciting draw when bad light stopped play, with Sharma being declared the man-of-the-match.
Both teams  now head to Dominica for the final Test, with India leading the series 1-0.

INDIA firstt innings 201
West Indies first innings 190
INDIA 2nd innings (o/night 229/3)
A. Mukund c Baugh b Edwards    48
M. Vijay c Baugh b Rampaul    3
R. Dravid c Sarwan b Edwards    55
VVS. Laxman c Sammy b Edwards    87
V. Kohli c Sammy b Edwards    27
S. Raina not out    12
MS. Dhoni c Chanderpaul b Edwards    5
H. Singh not out    6
Extras: (b-4, lb-9, w-5, nb-8)    26
Total: (for 6 wickets decl’d, off 102 overs)    269
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-89, 3-154, 4-233, 5-247, 6-253, 7-202.
Bowling: Edwards 23-4-76-5 (w-1, nb-5), Rampaul 28-6-72-1 (nb-2), Sammy 24-8-45-0, Bishoo 27-4-63-0 (nb-1).

WEST INDIES second innings
A. Barath c Raina b Sharma    27
L. Simmons c Dravid b Sharma    14
R. Sarwan c Raina b Kumar    8
D. Bravo c Dhoni b Mithun    73
S. Chanderpaul lbw Singh    12
M.  Samuels lbw Sharma    9
C. Baugh not out    46
D. Sammy lbw Sharma    0
R. Rampaul not out    0
Extras: (b-5, lb-6, nb-2)    13
Total: (for 7 wickets, off 71.3 overs)    202
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-27, 3-55, 4-109, 5-132, 6-201, 7-202.
Bowling: Kumar 16-6-41-1, Sharma 19.3-4-53-4, Mithun 13-3-50-1 (nb-2), H. Singh 19-2-42-1, Raina 4-1-5-0.