New Delhi: All-round performance by hosts India put them in the driver's seat at stumps on day three of the first Test against West Indies at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla ground, with Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid taking India to 152/2.
Dravid (30) and Tendulkar (33) put together an unbroken 57-run partnership after a quickfire 55 from Virender Sehwag laid the foundation to chase the 276-run target set by West Indies.
Gautam Gambhir and Sehwag put on a 51-run partnership but the former had to depart after part-timer Marlon Samuels struck him right in front. Sehwag fell at the score of 95, but Dravid and Tendulkar allayed any fears of a collapse, with Tendulkar completing 15,000 Test runs en route.
Earlier in the day, R Ashwin took 6/47 to restrict the Windies to 180 in their second innings, which added up to the 95-run lead they took in the first innings.
In the process, Ashwin became the seventh Indian to begin his Test career with a five-for, and his match haul nine for 128 is also the second-best for an Indian on debut behind Narendra Hirwani's 16 for 136.
Ashwin, who dismissed opener Kieran Powell late on Monday to trigger the slide, deservingly signalled the end of the West Indies innings by having Ravi Rampaul caught at deep midwicket.
Just before Rampaul's dismissal, the 25-year-old off-spinner from Chennai removed Darren Sammy (42) with his trademark carom ball that skidded off the wicket, hardly giving the West Indian skipper any time to get his bat down.
But nothing would have given Ashwin more satisfaction than the prized scalp of Shivnarine Chanderpaul (47).
The first-innings centurion was just threatening to take the game away from the hosts when Ashwin got the ball to turn across as he trapped the stodgy Guyanese plumb in-front.
Chanderpaul's was the wicket India had been looking for, and Ashwin responded to the team's needs, though the tail did hung in for a while to frustrate the Indians.
Thanks to Ashwin's effort, it did not take India more than 42.3 overs on the third day to bowl out the visitors, who suffered due to a lack of a decent partnership.
Only veteran Chanderpaul (47) showed some fight, followed by a 42-run cameo by skipper Darren Sammy.
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