[Bounce]

West Indies in India, 2011


Second Test Match at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad

Chris Gayle powered the West Indian inning

After winning the toss, Chris Gayle came out confident with his opening partner, Omar Phillips. For India, Zaheer Khan begun the proceedings along with Praveen Kumar. It was a slow start for the Windies, quite unusual when Gayle's there at the crease.


The spinning duo had a bad start but were crucial in restricting West Indies to a score less than 300. The Gayle-Phillips could add just 47 runs to the total, before Phillips was trapped by the spinner, Pragyan Ojha.

Then came in Shivnarine Chanderpaul to join Gayle. Both of them brought the West Indian inning back on track with some promising shots and matured approach. The pair managed to put up a century stand, filled with shots all round the park. Gayle and Chanderpaul, both had gone passed the 50 run mark. Unfortunately for the West Indians, Chanderpaul threw his wicket by giving a catch to Gautam Gambhir at long on off Praveen Kumar.

Ramnaresh Sarwan joined Gayle, but before making an impact, walked back to the pavilion. The West Indian inning suddenly begun looking in trouble. Harbhajan Singh picked up his first wicket of the match.

Next to come in for the centurion of the previous match, Narsingh Deonarine. The pair of Gayle-Deonarine was looking good as they both put up a good show. It was then that Praveen Kumar was brought back into the attack by MS Dhoni. The bowling change paid off as Kumar managed to find the edge from Gayle's willow which went straight into the safe hands of VVS Laxman. Chris Gayle finally departed and missed out on a century.

Ryan Hinds came out in the middle and wanted to make an impact here, after being dismissed for a first ball duck in the previous match. Once again, Windies suffered two quick blows. This time, it was Deonarine who departed on 30. Denesh Ramdin was the next to come in but he too got out cheaply. With just 1 run next to his name, Ramdin walked back to the pavilion.

Darren Sammy joined Hinds. Finally, the Windies got the pair they were looking for. Sammy and Hinds once again brought back life to the West Indian inning. Both scored runs at quick pace, and reached the half centuries. Looked like it was the day of the nervous 90s and Ryan Hinds too had to go back at a score in the nineties. Hinds was dismissed bowled by Ojha and just like Gayle, was unfortunate to reach the three figures.

Soon after Hind's dismissal, Darren Sammy got out. He played a superb knock of 81, comprising of 11 boundaries. No batsmen from the tail could contribute much to the total, though Nikita Miller played his part, scoring 19 runs.

The West Indians finally finished at a total of 411 for 10 after 135.1 overs. Zaheer Khan was the pick of the bowlers, taking four West Indian wickets. Kumar, Ojha and Harbhajan picked up 2 wickets each as the part-timers, Raina and Sehwag went wicket-less.

Zaheer Khan once again made his experience count



India trails by 411 runs

Period of the match: Day 2 - Session 2