Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar remained on course for a much-anticipated hundredth international ton as India made a solid response to West Indies' hefty first-innings total of 590 on day three of the third Test in Mumbai.
Tendulkar was unbeaten on 67 when bad light halted play for the day with India on 281 for 3 - still 309 runs short of West Indies' 590. Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, on 32, will resume play at the crease Friday morning. Sachin enjoyed one let-off during his innings, with Carlton Baugh failing to hold onto a thin edge when the batsman was on 58, off Devendra Bishoo the frustrated bowler.
India lost the wicket of opener Gautam Gambhir (55) in the second session after the dismissal of his Virender Sehwag (37) in the first session after the duo had put on a brisk 67 in 14.3 overs.
Later, West Indies got the better of Rahul Dravid in the final session. An in-form Dravid scored 82 before being bowled by Marlon Samuels. Dravid went past 1,000 runs for the year on his way to 82, continuing his excellent form which has also seen him notch up five centuries in 2011. Dravid also became only the second player in history after Tendulkar to complete 13,000 Test runs.
He started the post-lunch session with a first-ball on-driven boundary off Fidel Edwards and then square cut the bowler for another four to begin the post-lunch session in impressive fashion.
Gambhir, after adding just a single to his lunch time score, edged Darren Sammy but Kirk Edwards could not latch on to the catch. Gambhir then brought up his 18th half-century in his 44th Test but when it appeared he was in for the long haul, Ravi Rampaul struck. Gambhir, tempted by a ball dug in short, tried to swing it to leg and was ruled caught behind off a top edge.
After a massive first-innings total, West Indies’ bowlers got off to a decent start by sending back danger man Sehwag after India made a brisk start. With the wicket still in favour of the batsmen, Sehwag and Gambhir made a strong reply before the former was finally dismissed.
Sehwag, looking good for a big score, was bowled by Sammy for the third time in the series with a ball that moved in a shade and sneaked through the gap between bat and pad as he stretched forward for a drive. Sehwag's 37 contained three fours and a six and came off 50 balls.
Earlier, West Indies had added 15 runs off 3.1 overs to their overnight total of 575 for 9 before offspinner R Ashwin bowled Bishoo (12) to finish with 5 for 156, his second five-wicket haul in the series.
India lead 2-0 in the series after winning the opening Test in New Delhi by five wickets and the second in Kolkata by an innings and 15 runs.
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