India continued its strong hold on the third day of opening test against West Indies as it restricted the hosts for 90/3 till lunch at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium today.
Overnight batsman Kraigg Braithwaite (not out 46) and veteran Marlon Samuels (0) were at the crease till lunch was called, with the hosts still 476 runs behind India's mammoth first innings total of 566 for eight declared. West Indies were 31 for one at the end of Friday's play.
Overnight batsman Devendra Bishoo (12) and left-hander Darren Bravo (11) were the wickets India picked. West Indies only managed to add 59 runs in the session.
Night watchman left-hander Bishoo was stumped by wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha after being beaten in flight and dragged his feet ahead to a delivery from leg-spinner Amit Mishra.
Left-hander Bravo edged a rising back of a length delivery to Saha to hand over a prized wicket to India, just in the penultimate over before lunch.
In the morning, Indian medium pacers Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma probed the West Indian duo of Braithwaite and Bishoo with tight line and length. Testing them with occasional bouncers, Shami and Ishant hardly gave the batsmen any room as they tried to just hang in there, without scoring.
India captain Virat Kohli put two close-in fielders apart from the slips to send the message to the West Indies that India need wickets. The West Indies batsmen were tentative as the ball moved a lot, aided by the wind and the Indians tested the dogged patience of the hosts.
The presence of a non-regular batsman in Bishoo also didn't help the hosts' cause as he struggled a lot -- with a couple of catches just avoiding the close-in fielders.
Braithwaite too struggled to negotiate the bounce and the swing and once had a shot just flying above the slip fielders.
Indian spinners came on they kept the pressure on the batsmen. Finally, they were rewarded with a wicket when Bishoo was stumped while attempting a cross-bat shot off leg-spinner Mishra.
After the wicket at 68/2, Bravo came and he played a couple of good shots and Braithwaite also showed some positivity against off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was smacked for two fours towards mid-on and point.
Later, Bravo ended up edging it behind off a Shami delivery pitched outside the off stump just in the penultimate over before lunch to make it a successful session for the tourists.
Brief scores: India: 566/8d, West Indies: 90/3 (Kraigg Braithwaite not out 46; Mohammed Shami 2/23).
(With IANS inputs)
