PUNE, India, CMC:
THE WEST Indies bowling attack struggled as Railways began a strong first innings reply on the second day of their three-day game at the Nehru Stadium yesterday.
Responding to the West Indies huge first innings score of 449 for eight declared, Railways got a century from opening batsman Shreyas Khanolkar and closed at 179 for one, with Murali Kartik not out on 72 and Tejinder Singh on two.
West Indies, tuning up for the third and final test against India, resumed at an imposing 297 for two, but declined steadily before being pushed beyond the 400-mark by a fine unfinished 95-run stand between Gareth Breese (58) and Mahendra Nagamootoo (39).
Overnight batsmen Marlon Samuels and Daren Ganga made quick departures -- Samuels (4) caught behind off pacer Zakir Hussain in the morning's second over, and Ganga (71) had added just five to his overnight score when he edged pacer Harvinder Singh to Murali Kartik at second slip, as the Windies slid to 303 for four.
Ryan Hinds (19) edged medium pacer Jai Prakash Yadav and gave Kartik a second slip catch at 330 for five, before off-spinner Kulamani Parida struck three times in consecutive overs after lunch to reduce the tourists to 354 for eight.
Captain Ridley Jacobs (9), Ramnaresh Sarwan (10), and Darren Powell (0) all fell to Parida and the West Indies at that point, had lost seven wickets for 52 runs - a huge collapse after Chris Gayle (154) and half centuries from Wavell Hinds (50) and Ganga had given them a flying start on the opening day Thursday.
Breese then struck 11 boundaries in his half-century knock, while Nagamootoo hit four fours and one six in his innings to revive the lower order.
Parida led the Railways' bowling with four for 107 off 35 overs, while Harvinder Singh picked up two for 63 off 21 overs for the Ranjie Trophy champions.
In the final session, Khanolkar (102) stroked 20 fours in a 167-run opening stand with Kartik and aided by some inept out-cricket, the home side moved within 270 runs of the West Indies total with nine wickets in hand.
SCOREBOARD:
West Indies 1st innings
(overnight 297 for 2):
C.Gayle b Harvinder Singh 154
W.Hinds c Martin b Parida 50
D.Ganga c Kartik b Harvinder Singh 71
M.Samuels c wkp Abhay Sharma b Zakir Hussain 4
R.Hinds c Kartik b Yadav 19
R.Sarwan lbw Parida 10
R.Jacobs b Parida 9
G.Breese not out 58
D.Powell c Kartik b Parida 0
M.Nagamootoo not out 39
Extras (b9, lb7, nb19) 35
TOTAL (for 8 wickets declared) 449
Did not Bat: D.Powell, C.Cuffy.
Fall: 1-71, 2-296, 3-302, 4-308, 5-330, 6-347, 7-350, 8-354.
Bowling: Harvinder Singh 21-4-63-2; Zakir Hussain 17-2-62-1 (1nb); Yadav 20-6-37-1 (7nb); Kartik 44-10-117-0 (10nb); Parida 35-12-107-4; Singh 13-3-38-0; Khanolkar 2-0-9-0.
Railways 1st innings
S.Khanolkar c Powell b R.Hinds 102
M.Kartik not out 72
T.Singh not out 2
Extras (lb2, nb1) 3
TOTAL (for 1 wicket) 179
Fall: 1-167
Bowling: Cuffy 9-1-51-0; Powell 5-0-37-0; Nagamootoo 4-0-34-0; Breese 7-1-37-0; Gayle 4-0-15-0; R.Hinds 3-0-3-0 (1nb).
Toss: West Indies
