Chanderpaul leads Windies fightback with 24th Test ton
NEW DELHI, India, (CMC/IANS) – Shivnarine Chanderpaul continued his love affair with India’s bowling, collecting his seventh hundred against them and clawing West Indies back into the first Test yesterday after they endured a shaky start. Chanderpaul’s undefeated 111, his 24th Test hundred, took the visitors to 256 for five in their first innings at the close on the opening day at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.
As the daylight faded, the 37-year-old left-hander swept left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha for a single through backward square leg to bring up his second straight Test hundred against India from just 144 balls.
Chanderpaul’s hundred follows his undefeated 116 in the second innings of the third Test of the West Indies’ home series against the Indians earlier this year in Dominica.
The innings ties Chanderpaul with Vivian Richards on the West Indies all-time century-makers list behind Garfield Sobers (26) and Brian Lara (34).
Chanderpaul has so far struck seven fours and two sixes from 167 balls in close to four hours of batting and drew on every ounce of his experience of a West Indies record 135 Tests to drag the visitors out of a ditch.
He shared a crucial 108-run, third-wicket stand with teenaged opener Kraigg Brathwaite and 56 – unbroken – for the sixth wicket with Carlton Baugh Jr that helped West Indies recover from 72 for three on a slow track, after they chose to bat.
Brathwaite is a noted admirer of Chanderpaul and supported his batting idol with a career-best 63 that contained four boundaries from 212 balls.
But no other West Indies batsman reached 20, all suffering from fits and starts, as left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha grabbed three wickets for 58 runs from 29 overs and Test newcomer Ravichandran Ashwin bagged two for 79 from 25 overs.
Brathwaite and fellow rookie opener Kieran Powell steadily navigated the first 45 minutes, defying the new-ball pair of Ishant Sharma and another Test newcomer Umesh Yadav, both of whom went wicket-less on the day.
The two young openers were made to confront spin from as early as in the 10th over and a double strike from Ojha hampered West Indies progress in the morning session.
Powell was fortunate on 14. Moving down to drive, he gave Ojha a return chance, but the bowler muffed the chance.
The West Indies left-handed opener failed to make use of the opportunity though, and Ojha trapped him lbw for 14 playing defensively forward in his next over.
Kirk Edwards brimmed with confidence, following his landmark Test against Bangladesh last week, although both Indian spinners went past his outside edge a few times.
He looked to be warming to the job, when he drove Ojha through cover for his second boundary, but two deliveries later, he gave a high return catch to the same bowler, when he moved down the pitch and tried to take the aerial route.
Left-hander Darren Bravo joined Brathwaite and carried West Indies to 69 for two at lunch with both batsmen releasing the pressure with a couple of boundaries each before the interval.
Brathwaite steered Ashwin to third man for his second four before Bravo got into his stride with a lovely back-foot, cover drive for four off Ojha.
Brathwaite also steered Sharma to third man for his third four and Bravo climaxed the morning period with an imperiously well-timed straight drive for his second boundary.
West Indies suffered a setback in the very first over after lunch, when Ashwin bowled Bravo for 12 getting through the left-hander when he jumped on the back-foot in his attempt to cut.
Chanderpaul and the 18-year-old Brathwaite then joined forces and frustrated India, showing the perfect temperament to grind it out on the slow pitch.
They accumulated runs patiently, relying mostly on singles, and West Indies reached 159 for three at tea with both having passed 50.
Brathwaite got to his second Test 50 from 157 balls with a single to mid-on off Ashwin, and Chanderpaul reached the landmark from 77 balls, when he swept Ojha through backward square leg for a single.
Chanderpaul’s innings however, was laced with both aggression and maturity. He was never hesitant to step out and hit Ashwin and Ojha for his two sixes straight down the ground, and also quickly stepped back and concentrate on finding the gaps.
Just when it looked like the two batsmen were getting into the thick of things, Brathwaite was stumped off Ojha in the first half-hour after tea.
Leaning forward to smother a slower delivery that spun past his outside edge, Brathwaite dragged his back-foot out of the crease and Dhoni whipped off the bails with lightning-fast speed.
Marlon Samuels came to the crease and took West Indies to the 200-run threshold with Chanderpaul before he was caught behind for 15 playing defensively forward to Ashwin, giving Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni a record 200th victim behind the stumps, taking him past Syed Kirmani.
Baugh collected three boundaries, all through the leg-side off the two fast bowlers, racing to 19 not out. He ushered Chanderpaul to his hundred, and batted through the remainder of the day to keep the balance of power on an even keel.
This is West Indies’ first full tour of India for nine years and it will be their toughest under the captaincy of Darren Sammy.

WEST INDIES 1st Innings
K. Brathwaite st *Dhoni b Ojha 63
K. Powell lbw b Ojha 14
K. Edwards c and b Ojha 15
D.M. Bravo b Ashwin 12
S. Chanderpaul not out 111
M. Samuels c wkpr *Dhoni b Ashwin 15
+C. Baugh not out 19
Extras (b4, lb2, nb1) 7
TOTAL (5 wkts, 91 overs) 256
*D. Sammy, R. Rampaul, F. Edwards, D. Bishoo to bat

Fall of wickets: 1-25 (Powell); 2-45 (Edwards); 3-72 (Bravo); 4-180 (Brathwaite); 5-200 (Samuels)
Bowling: Sharma 18-4-58-0 (nb1); Yadav 16-5-48-0; Ojha 29-8-58-3; Ashwin 25-3-79-2 ; Sehwag 2-0-5-0; Yuvraj Singh 1-0-2-0
INDIA: V. Sehwag, G. Gambhir, R. Dravid, S. Tendulkar, V. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, *+M.S. Dhoni, R. Ashwin, I. Sharma, P. Ojha, U. Yadav