Sports India

ON ONE HAND there was Jerome Taylor. On the other was Rahul Dravid.

Almost everyone else seemed to be limited participants.

Taylor, lively and bouncy on a Sabina Park pitch that offered more assistance than the previous two in the Digicel Series between West Indies and India, grabbed an impressive five-wicket haul on the opening day of the fourth and final Test here yesterday.

Dravid proved to be more difficult to topple than the Berlin Wall with a resolute 81 that occupied almost six hours and prevented an embarrassment from a hopeless position of 91 for six.

India were rocked by two wickets at the start and Taylor’s double-strike after lunch that ensured West Indies made all the running in the first two sessions, but Dravid, in tandem with Anil Kumble, however, resurrected India’s effort with seventh-wicket partnership of 93.

With India managing to eke out only one run an over for the first two hours to labour to 29 for two at lunch and in dire trouble as tea approached, Dravid dropped anchor but Taylor, who finished with five for 50 off 18.4 overs, came back to grab two wickets at the end when India’s last four wickets fell for 16.

Jerome rocks

the Indians again

Not for the first time in the series, Taylor produced a telling spell that rocked the Indians.

In the middle of the post-lunch session, the Jamaican fast bowler, urged on by his countrymen in the George Headley Stand, produced bounce to unsettle the Indians and dislodge Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, two batsmen he also dispatched in a similarly inspiring spell in the third Test.

The left-handed Yuvraj, still without a major in the series, was the most free-scoring batsman of the day until Taylor knocked him over to win a lbw decision with a direct yorker.

It sent the left-hander to the turf in obvious pain and it caused him to limp off the field.

Kaif had shown some vulnerability in handling the lifting stuff from Taylor and it was no surprise when he gloved a rising ball to second slip.

By then, Taylor had already announced himself with his first wicket 20 minutes into the day when he bowled down Wasim Jaffer.

As solid as a rock

We know why they call Dravid ‘The Wall’ and yesterday was just further confirmation.

While everyone else around him could not negotiate the bowling or the pitch, the India captain was unflappable for all of five-and-three-quarter hours in which time he cautiously negotiated 215 balls.

He was as solid as the big concrete structure at the northern end that is being erected for Cricket World Cup 2007. In circumstances which dictated a stablising influence, his role was tremendous.

At no stage was he in trouble. This gutsy display showed the value of responsibility and level-headedness.

As he progressed towards a century, he also moved towards becoming the sixth batsman in Test cricket to reach 9 000 runs and the fastest to do so in terms of number of innings; but he was stopped when he edged a good one from Corey Collymore to the ‘keeper when the second new ball paid dividends.

Dravid needed another 19 runs to reach the landmark and has two innings to reach there faster than Brian Lara did.

The pitch verdict

Head groundsman Charlie Joseph was somewhat accurate in his prediction on what to expect from the pitch.

While West Indies captain Brian Lara had his concerns on the eve of the match, the surface had its share of bounce that made life uncomfortable for batsmen.

At the same time, however, there were signs of varying bounce.

There was the odd occasion of pace which came when Taylor got one to hurry through to bowl the usually compact Wasim Jaffer in the fourth over.

The most disconcerting bounce came midway into the day when Taylor forced Mohammad Kaif to fend off a lifter only for Daren Ganga, jumping a gully, to muff the chance.

Finally, there was a pitch the bowlers could relish after the lifeless surfaces of Beausejour and Warner Park. Let’s see how it behaves for the next few days before passing judgment.

Where’s that express fast bowler?

To a point, Brian Lara’s call for a bowler of more than fast-medium appeared to be a justifiable request.

While Taylor was able to generate the bounce that worried the Indians, no one else could sustain it at the opposite end.

Collins, Collymore and Bravo each chipped in with a wicket, but a Tino Best, Jermaine Lawson or an Andew Richardson could have caused more trouble.

At one point, Taylor had Kumble unconvincingly backing away to square-leg. Later, the same batsman would be stretching long forward to defend the medium-pacers with aplomb.

When there was need for the ball to be coming into his chest, there was no one to do so while Taylor was rested. Eventually, Bravo got one to bounce which Kumble played into his stumps after batting for two hours.