[Bounce]

West Indies in India, 2011


First Test Match at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Sehwag and Gambhir during their partnership of 197 runs

After putting on a huge score on the board, the West Indian came out to bowl with complete confidence. Giving a follow on to team India would have been their primary aim. But the Indian openers, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag had some other plans.

Chris Gayle, surprisingly made Omar Philips to bowl the first spell for the Windies along with Jerome Taylor. The idea seemed to back-fire at them as the dangerous batting pair of Sehwag-Gambhir got off to a flier. There were no signs of looking back. Virender Sehwag started in the typical "Sehwag" style, smashing the West Indian bowlers all around the park. Gambhir on the other hand was calm as a cucumber and was in for a big inning.

The duo was involved in a huge partnership which almost sealed the fact that India would be in the lead after this inning. Unfortunately, a 200 run partnership could not be completed as Sehwag was dismissed by Ryan Hinds.

Rahul Dravid came out at the crease to join Gambhir. No sooner did Sehwag walk back to the pavilion, Dravid followed him. He was complete bamboozled by a yorker from Ryan Hinds. The veteran had to depart for a duck. Two wickets in an over, was the match turning up alive?

Two wickets fell in quick succession and it wasn't a surprise to see a third one. The master, Sachin Tendulkar couldn't last long as he too threw his wicket off cheaply to Hinds. India from being 197 for no loss at one stage had suddenly fallen to 205 for 3 wickets.

VVS Laxman joined Gambhir to stabilize the innings. The duo batted sensibly. Just when it look that finally India was re-building a partnership, the opener, Gautam Gambhir was dismissed by Darren Sammy, giving Sammy his first wicket of the match. The top 4 from India's batting line-up were sent back to the pavilion.

Despite a good start from the openers, India failed to capitalize. VVS Laxman along with the deubatant Virat Kohli were dismissed cheaply. MS Dhoni came to provide some resistance.

Dhoni along with Harbhajan Singh managed to get along in a good looking partnership. Both managed to score 30 odd runs, helping team India to get past 300. After their dismissal, nobody from the experienced Indian tail could contribute much to the total.

The wickets fell quickly at the end, restricting India from getting a lead. India got all out for 341 runs. The fans would surely have expected a lot more from the batsmen, after the start provided by the openers.

Darren Sammy celebrates after dismissing Gambhir



West Indies lead by 45 runs.