Bravo ton puts Windies on top

MUMBAI, India (CMC):

Elegant stroke-maker Darren Bravo stroked his second successive century and his third in six innings to lead a fabulous West Indies batting effort against India in the third and final Test yesterday.

The left-hander carved out a superb 166 to follow up his 136 last week in Kolkata, as West Indies finished the second day at the Wankhede Stadium on a mammoth 575 for nine.

Bravo extended his overnight 117-run, third-wicket stand with Kirk Edwards (86) to 164 before putting on a further 160 for the fourth wicket with Powell.

Edwards resumed the day on 65 and seemed set for his third Test century in six Tests before becoming the only wicket to fall before lunch. The right-hander counted 13 fours off 165 balls.

Drawing comparisons with his illustrious countryman Brian Lara for his fluent strokeplay, Bravo also looked good for his maiden double century till he became debutant fast bowler Varun Aaron's first of three victims.

Aaron finished with three for 104 runs, while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin got four for 154 to be the leading bowler.

West Indies maintained a brisk run rate, scoring 308 runs in the day - 111 in the first session, 116 in the second and 81 in the last when five wickets fell in a heap for just 48 runs.

Indians struggle

It was a hard day for the Indians on the field on a benign pitch, forcing captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to use as many as seven bowlers. But the West Indies batsmen carried on from where they had left off Tuesday evening.

Bravo made his intentions clear right from the start, cracking Aaron for fours off the first two balls of the day. In the young fast bowler's next over, Edwards went one better, hitting him for three fours.

Seamer Ishant Sharma finally gave the Indian team something to cheer for by removing Edwards before lunch with an excellent delivery that pitched just outside off and took the outside edge through to Dhoni for one of his five catches.

The 21-year-old Powell, who came in for injured veteran left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul, kept the scoreboard moving at a fast clip. He struck six boundaries in the first six overs he faced and the 50-run stand for the fourth-wicket came up off just 66 balls.

Bravo, meanwhile, got to his third Test century in style with a four off Ashwin, a beautiful drive that pierced cover.

Powell reached his half-century off 91 deliveries and also seemed poised for three figures in only his fourth Test when he edged a cut at left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha into Dhoni's gloves. He faced 149 balls and hit nine fours.

India tasted success seven overs after tea when Bravo slashed at one from Aaron and give Dhoni another simple catch. His dismissal cut short a promising 44-run, fifth-wicket stand with Samuels and sparked a collapse as wickets tumbled cheaply.

The right-handed Samuels, who cracked nine boundaries off 103 balls, then held the innings together before he was ninth out.