Mumbai: India made a strong comeback by taking five wickets in the last session of play, but not before West Indies put up a massive 575/9 to end the second day's play of the third and the final Test at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. Varun Aaron struck thrice, while R Aswhin grabbed another two to reduce West Indies to below 600, after they had been cruising at 494/4 at tea.
Darren Bravo was the star performer for the Caribbean side, scoring 166 in 284 deliveries. Kirk Edwards added 21 to his overnight score of 65 before being dismissed by Ishant Sharma for 86. Kieran Powell plundered 81 and Marlon Samuels contributed 61.
Earlier on day two, Bravo came out with an aggressive mindset, hitting the day's first two balls, bowled by Aaron, for boundaries. But the much-needed breakthrough came when Edwards flirted with Ishant's short-of-a-length delivery, which moved a bit after pitching and took the edge of the bat.
Powell, who replaced Edwards, came out counter-attacking, playing with a straight bat and hitting boundaries on both sides of the wicket. Bravo, gauging the situation well, played second fiddle to Powell.
After Edwards, Powell too got out in the eighties. The left-hander played a loose cut shot away from his body off Pragyan Ojha, which was pouched brilliantly by Dhoni.
Bravo got to his century - his third in four Tests - in 153 deliveries. The 22-year-old Trinidadian hit 12 fours as West Indies went into lunch at 378/3. The visitors had added 111 with a loss of one wicket in the morning session.
With seven wickets in the bank, West Indies understandably looked uninhibited in their strokeplay after the lunch break. While Powell brought up his half-century, Bravo seemed to have taken over the mantle from Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the line-up.
Both Bravo and Powell continued to pile on the runs as the visitors inched closer to the 500-run mark. Batsmen made full use of the open spaces available as West Indies scored 116 in the second session. Meanwhile, Bravo also brought up his 150.
After a long and hard toil, Aaron finally got his first Test wicket, which became two in the space of two overs. First, he got Bravo and then in his next over Carlton Baugh - the former caught behind and the latter bowled.
Aaron claimed his third wicket when he drew West Indies skipper Darren Sammy forward, inducing an outside edge, which was taken by Dhoni to complete his fifth catch of the innings.
After Aaron, Ashwin struck twice in a quick succession to derail the innings, which was once looking good to go past the 650-run mark. The offspinner took the wicket of Ravi Rampaul, who was caught at silly point by Virat Kohli, and then got Samuels caught in the slips by Rahul Dravid.
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