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Chris Gayle was bobbing his head up and down in mock Chinese-style, shaking hands with Virender Sehwag, then Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Sehwag tried one of his own, gave up. Brian Lara, in the dressing room, had reached for a bottle of the local lager, Dravid was up in the press room scanning his inbox, waiting for his turn to speak. A happy ending, it seemed.

Happy for the West Indies, hanging on at No 8 in the ICC ladder, after managing to take this four-Test series into the final game, without a defeat. Happy for India? Maybe, if we were playing Australia. But for the third-best Test nation in the world, having let go of their third chance to win, it really is not time to be very happy.

Yes, they came back magnificently from 159/5 on the third day morning. Yes, the last-wicket pair of Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel, as Lara admitted, ensured that the West Indies were pushed back by a valuable one and-a-half hours that afternoon. But when you step back from the mounting tension of the chase, the clutter of fielders around the bat, the screaming fans, all you see is this equation: 149 runs to win in 27 overs, Yuvraj Singh, St Lucia century-maker Mohammed Kaif and five more to come.

That was what the scoreboard showed last evening when Dhoni walked in to bat, Laxman gone for a 106-ball 63, after a 100-run partnership in 25 overs with skipper Rahul Dravid that took India to the final steps of what could have been one of their best Test wins in recent memory.

The first ball was hit out of the ground, the field spread out, then what happened? That’s what the millions of fans in India would still be trying to work out, even the day after. But into the fifth over of the defining 8.2 overs that followed, some of the West Indian fans had got the hint: “Work the singles, maan,” shouted a gangly gum-seller in a rasta cap.

If you remove the two sixes by Dhoni, those 50 balls produced 18 runs. Now what was that all about? “He didn’t drop anchor. You’ve got to understand the length they were bowling as well. When the ball was pitched up, he went for it. But when the ball was pitched short, it was keeping low, and it wasn’t easy to bat. There were only certain kinds of shots that you could play, and the West Indies bowlers and their captain realised that very quickly,” Dravid said.

“Dhoni wasn’t under any instruction to go out there and smash every ball. I don’t think smashing every ball would have been prudent as well,” the skipper added.

But by the time Dhoni smashed a tired pacer Jerome Taylor to Gayle at cover, the angle had changed once again, India needed 119 runs in 19 overs. Maybe, with Yuvraj Singh struggling for form, it was time for the skipper, batting then at 52 off 100 balls to step on the gas. But then, it was not a normal working day for Dravid the batsman, struggling to build up the tempo, get the gaps, middle the ball. That was also when the West Indians shifted their line of attack to well outside off, push Dravid to shut shop. Which he did.

“We had to give them a sporting chance to see whether we can get some wickets and keep them interested in the game. As soon as they wanted to shut shop, you saw what happened… they fell way short. We knew how to manage the game and I thought it worked out really well in the end,” said Lara.

If the Dhoni gamble didn’t quite come off for India, Lara would be smiling that his did. It really was a huge risk even after key bowler Pedro Collins cramped up — not asking a shaky India to follow on the fourth day — but at the end he walked away with all the credit of having opened up a match that always looked like heading for a draw.

For India, the fact that five of the six top-order batsmen will ride to Jamaica on a wave of centuries will be the one, big positive. As for Yuvraj Singh, eight in 50 balls last evening, that’s a different story.

Fast bowlers Jerome Taylor and Corey Collymore shared six wickets to put the West Indies in control of the third test against India on Sunday.
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VVS Laxman scored his tenth century, a round 100, but that was not enough to stop India from being dismissed for 362 with the last ball before tea on the fourth day.

India were set a follow-on target of 382 when the West Indies totalled 581 in their first innings but West Indian captain Brian Lara decided not to ask the visitors to bat again.

The match seemed headed for a draw before Taylor took three quick wickets to reduce India to 159 for five in the fourth over of Sunday’s play.

Taylor took his first wicket with the 11th ball of the day’s play by trapping Rahul Dravid in front for 22.

Taylor struck twice in three balls in his next over when he had a hesitant Yuvraj Singh caught behind by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin with an away swinger and dismissed Mohammad Kaif leg-before with a delivery that seemed to be missing leg stump.

Both Yuvraj and Kaif were dismissed without scoring.

MS Dhoni and Laxman stabilised the innings with a solid partnership in which they made the most of the helpful conditions for batting.

The stand reached 61 before Dhoni played across the line to a ball from Collymore in the sixth over before lunch and was trapped in front for 29.

That delivery also seemed to be on its way past leg-stump, but not in the opinion of umpire Brian Jerling, who had upheld the appeal against Kaif.

Anil Kumble and Laxman added 77 runs for the seventh wicket in a positive partnership that was ended when Laxman prodded forward and away from his body at a delivery from left-arm fast bowler Pedro Collins.

The edge flew low to the right of Ramdin, who dived to take a fine catch just above the turf. The patient Laxman faced 231 balls and hit 15 fours in his vigil.

Collymore had a pulling Kumble caught off the top edge by Collins at fine leg three overs later for a brave 43.

Six balls after that India were 315 for nine after Shanta Sreesanth steered a cut off Collins into the hands of Lara at second slip to be dismissed for a duck.

Thoughts of the follow-on were relegated to the back burner by the defiant batting of Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel, who added 47 runs for the last wicket.

They were separated when Patel, who scored 13, spooned a delivery from medium pacer Dwayne Bravo to Daren Ganga in the gully.

Harbhajan drove lustily for his unbeaten 38, which included eight fours.

Taylor took three for 118, while Collymore claimed three for 63

Opener Wasim Jaffer struck a half-century to bolster India’s reply to West Indies’ 581 on the third day of the third test on Saturday.

At the close India were 150 for two with Jaffer back in the pavilion after scoring 60 with 10 boundaries.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul was left stranded on 97 not out when West Indies collapsed after lunch with off spinner Harbhajan Singh taking five for 147.

India need to score 382 to avoid the follow-on.

Over a month ago, staring out of his fourth-floor flat in Hyderabad, he revealed what the real problem was. ‘‘It’s not about me. I can stay calm amidst all this. It’s my family, my parents, my grandmother, uncles. They get so upset when I am dropped. They ask me, ‘What more do you need to do?’’’

Dumped from the one-day team, dropped for the last two Tests against England in March, the 31-year-old knew then that this West Indies tour was it: the big one, do or get dropped forever. By Sunday evening, his answer was ready: 100, simple.

But what does that 10th Test century mean for VVS Laxman, the veteran; 76 Tests later, is he finally sure of his place in the team? ‘‘Well, it’s something which you have to ask the selectors or the team management,’’ he replied with a shrug.

‘‘I have full confidence in the team management, they have given me the kind of responsibility that a senior player demands or requires. So I am happy that I am able to contribute like a senior player should be doing, when the team required it the most,’’ he added.

It was an answer that had the questioner, Colin Croft, shaking his head, in disbelief that this classy player has been asked to prove himself again and again. Minutes later, the former West Indian fast bowling great asked his next question: aren’t you in a little bit of a race to fill a space even now, especially after Sachin Tendulkar returns from injury?

‘‘When you are playing Test cricket for your country, there will be competition, and it’s always good to have competition.

Good teams always have such competition. But when you are playing a match, you really don’t think about selection. You just go out and play to the situation and give your best. You have to just concentrate on the things which you can control, which is to get out there and try and get runs, and leave the rest to the selectors and team management,’’ replied Laxman.

This tour, in fact, has also been a bit about the story of Laxman’s career. He landed here after the one-day series, full of smiles, hope and form. But just as he was shifting to third gear in the Antigua Test came the speed bump—two horrible shots. A 10-ball duck in St Lucia the week after, and the whispers started: he would be dropped in St Kitts.

Assuring an anxious hometown journalist that he was “OK”, some time with his friend Anil Kumble on the computer, a visit to the local Indian restaurant, and he was ready.

On Saturday evening, coming in at 61 for one, a mammoth 581 to climb, it was all about staying at the wicket and it showed on the scoreboard: 28 in 97 balls. Sunday, India 159 for six, it was trademark Laxman, with 60 of his 231-ball 100 coming in boundaries.

‘‘It’s good to get a hundred when the situation demands it. Right from the start of the series, I was batting well. In Antigua, I thought I was batting well, whereas it was unfortunate that I got out early in St Lucia. So this one was very important,’’ said Laxman, adding, ‘‘I really prepared well for this series and it’s good that you get runs, especially when the team requires them the most. That is more satisfying.’’

One last question on his favourite No 3 batting slot, given to him for this series with Rahul Dravid deciding to fill the Tendulkar breach at No 4.

‘‘When you are playing international cricket, you have to get used to batting in any situation and at any position. And I have always enjoyed batting at No 3. But I have not batted at No 3 as much as No 5 or No 6 for India. I have batted No 3 more regularly for Hyderabad or South Zone. But I think you have to get used to whatever situation you are in, whatever batting position you are in.’’

For the final word, over to Brian Lara. ‘‘Losing the middle order very early, he showed a lot of responsibility, and he’s a class player, as we all know. We found it hard to uproot him but then you have to expect these things from players like that. It was a special innings.’’

Philippines: Young Saina Nehwal on Sunday became the first Indian woman to win a four-star badminton event by clinching the singles title in the Philippines Open.

The 16-year-old unseeded Indian shocked seventh seed and world number 66 Pei Xian Julia Wong of Malaysia 21-15, 22-20 in a thrilling final at Pasig City, Manila. The 86th-ranked Saina had earlier toppled top seed Xu Huwaien of Germany en route to the final.

Saina Nehwal scripted history, becoming the first Indian woman ever to win a four-star badminton event by clinching the singles title in the prestigious Philippines Open on Sunday.

The 16-year-old unseeded Indian shocked seventh seed and world No. 66 Pei Xian Julia Wong of Malaysia 21-15 22-20 in a thrilling final at Pasig City, Manila.

Showing amazing tenacity even when pitted against the big names, the 86-ranked Saina had toppled top seed and world No. 4 Xu Huwaien of Germany en route to the final.

“I just cannot believe it. I never thought that I could win the tournament. It will take some time for the victory to sink in,” Saina said.

“After coming so far, I was confident of winning the final because I had beaten her (Wong) in straight games before and I knew that I just needed to stay focussed and not make mistakes,” she said.

Saina, however, does not have enough time to celebrate her first big success at the international level as she would be playing in the Indonesian Open starting this week.

“I do not know how I will celebrate the victory. Everyone in the team has already left for Indonesian Open and I am alone. I am leaving tomorrow for the championship.”

Saina, coached by former All England Badminton Champion, Pullela Gopichand, has been in devastating form in the tournament, accounting for world No. 31 S Mudukesan of Malaysia in the opener before beating Sachiyo Imai of Japan.

But the biggest casualty of Saina’s firepower was the German Xu Huwaien in the quarterfinal. Saina turned the tables on Huwaien after a gruelling three-game encounter.

“That was the biggest win. After beating the top seed, I thought I could win the tournament and I kept on playing my natural game. My movement, dribbling were very good throughout the tournament,” she said.

“I had really worked very hard in the last few months and I am happy that it paid off,” she said.

Saina’s coach Gopichand was equally ecstatic about her feat.

“It is a remarkable achievement. It is really great. It’s not easy to beat such top quality players in a big four-star event, but she always had the potential to do that. Even in the Commonwealth Games she had beaten top players,” Gopichand said.

“It is very difficult to stay focussed and when you are just 16 years old. The pressure cracks you but Saina withstood all these pressure situations and pulled it off,” he said.

Gopichand rated Saina’s title triumph as a big achievement for Indian badminton

Teenage starlet Saina Nehwal stunned world No. 4 and top seed Xu Huaiwen of Germany to blast into the semifinals of the Philippines Open Badminton Championship at Pasig City.

Saina pulled off the biggest upset of her career with a 12-21 21-17 21-17 win to become the first ever Indian women to reach the last four stage of a four star event on Friday.

The 16-year-old Indian won the gruelling battle in 53 minutes against the Chinese born shuttler and set up a clash with Ai Gota of Japan, who prevailed 21-12 18-21 21-17 over Fransisca Ratnasari of Indonesia.

The 87th ranked Hyderabadi shuttler, coached by former All England Badminton Champion Pullela Gopichand, has been in stupendous form in the tournament as she had also packed off world number 31 S Mudukesan in the opener followed by a victory over Sachiyo Imai of Japan.

Gopichand rated Saina’s victory as a big achievement for Indian badminton.

“It is really fantastic. Beating the world no four and entering the semifinals of the four-star event is really very great,” Gopichand told PTI over telephone from Hyderabad.

“She (Saina) has a fair chance of reaching the finals. She is playing a Japanese girl and going by the way she has performed she should be able to win the match, provided she has not given everything in Friday’s match.

“Her win will serve as an inspiration to youngsters in the team and give them confidence to take on the top players in world without any fear.”

Having set the international cricket schedule for the next six years in the Future Tours Program (FTP), the ICC will now constitute a Funding and Scheduling Policy Committee (FSPC) to examine and recommend the structure of the international calender beyond 2012.

‘’Although the new six-year FTP that began in May provides an excellent framework for international cricket, there is no point in just sitting back and not thinking of the future beyond its duration,'’ ICC President Ehsan Mani said in a statement here.

‘’This committee will examine possible structures and funding models for an international program beyond 2012,'’ he added.

The make-up of the FSPC and its terms of reference will be ratified at the July 5 meeting of the ICC Executive Board at Lord’s in London.

It is expected the committee, which was agreed to at the March Executive Board meeting in Dubai, will focus on a review of the funding policy that underpins the FTP and how matches between members are scheduled.

The current funding policy is that each member receives all the income from its home series while meeting the costs of the visiting side, excluding international airfares and player fees.

The committee will assess this model and examine possible alternatives, including those used in other sports, and make a recommendation on future policy.

It will also look at possible alternatives to the current scheduling policy, which requires each Full Member to play each other at home and away over a six year period in a minimum of two Tests and three ODIs.

The committee will canvass the views of all Full and Associate Members and may also seek external assistance before reporting back to the ICC Executive Board in November.

A poor opening round of two-over 72 cost him dearly as Jyoti Randhawa failed to qualify for The Open Championship in Royal Liverpool, finishing a disappointing tied 39th at the European Qualifiers here.

The Asian Tour regular also failed to make it to the list of seven players, who will compete for four tickets in the playoff, which had to be postponed till today due to bad weather.

He finished with a total of one-over 144 after improving his performance in the second round by carding a one-under 69.

Randhawa was off colour in the opening round and dropped two consecutive shots on the first two holes. He recovered to slot a birdie on the third but a brace of bogeys on the seventh and eighth pulled him back again.

Three-over at the halfway mark, Randhawa tried to arrest the slide and hit a birdie on the 10th but again let the advantage slip with a bogey on the 12th. He fired two birdies after that but dropped a shot in between and could not prevent an over-par finish.

Randhawa was on damage control mode in the second round and he started well, gaining two shots between first and fifth, but again hit two successive bogeys on the seventh and eighth to go even-par after the completion of the first nine holes.

His back-nine was slightly better as he hit two birdies against a solitary bogey but that proved inadequate and despite carding a decent one-under 69, Randhawa missed the chance to qualify for the oldest major in the world.

Meanwhile, 14 players qualified from Europe for the 135th edition of the tournament and South African Louis Oosthuizen and Paraguay’s Marco Ruiz carded scores of eight-under 132 to book their places as joint leaders of the European qualifiers.

Half-centuries by skipper Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer and VVS Laxman steered India to a comfortable draw as they made 298 for four against West Indies after being set a target of 392 on the fifth and final day of the third Test here.

The four-match series remains locked at 0-0 after three matches.

Chasing a target of 392 to win in the last innings, India were 298 for four at stumps on the fifth day. West Indies made 581 in the first innings and India, in reply, fell short of the follow on mark by 20 runs as they were all out for 362.

West Indies skipper Brian Lara, however, did not impose the follow on and chose to bat again and declared at 172 for six in the second innings.

It was an exciting first session in which 168 runs were scored.

From their overnight score of 113 run for four wickets, West Indies batted for another eight overs in the day and added 59 runs.

Daren Ganga remained not out on 66 runs off 75 balls that included six hits to the fence. Marlon Samuels also made a quick 20 to set a challenging target.

Team India coach Greg Chappell had hinted rather than play for a draw the visitors would go for the chase.

Sehwag and Jaffer began in right earnest. Jaffer has been in good form in the series and played with ease rotating the strike. But it was Sehwag who lived a charmed life and yet found enough boundaries to send Lara to the lunch table with some ceases on his forehead.

The Najafgarh lad was let off twice in the innings. First in the fourth over as he edged Jerome Taylor to slips but Chris Gayle dropped an easy chance. Seeing that Sehwag was going for the target, Lara took more protection on the off side. He also set an interesting field position, putting a man each at short cover and short extra cover to latch on to anything that Sehwag played in the air.

Sehwag has a tendency to play uppishly in the cover region and Lara’s ploy almost succeeded when on 56 Viru hit Dwayne Bravo in the air. But Ramnaresh Sarwan at short extra cover couldn’t catch hold of the powerful drive and Sehwag was let off once again.

In between these two chances, Sehwag flourished and regularly pierced a strongly guarded off side boundary. He scored 65 runs in 74 balls with eight fours by lunch. Jaffer was batting on 35 off 83 deliveries.

West Indies struck the first ball after lunch to remove Sehwag leg before to Corey Collymore. VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid batted the rest of the session without losing their wickets as one more Test headed for a draw