West Indies v India – 3rd Test – Windies manage a thrilling draw
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 in India on Saturday, November 26, 2011.
The hosts needed 243 runs for victory in over two sessions of play, but were restricted to 242 for the loss of nine wickets at close of play. They batted 64 overs in the day and scored at a run-rate of 3.78, which turned out to be marginally short in the
end.
The Men in Blue had a golden opportunity to win the match in the end, as they needed just three runs with two wickets remaining.
However, West Indian pace ace http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Fidel-Henderson-Edwards-c57010 bowled a splendid over, which saw the match ending in a draw with scores level.
India’s debutant http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Varun-Aaron-c2744 was on strike to the final over, as Edwards charged in to bowl the final six deliveries.
The first ball was spot on, as it swung in from length and beat the inside edge of the bat. The wicketkeeper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/CS-Baugh-c1293 safely collected the ball and it was now three runs required off five balls.
Edwards charged in again, but this time stopped to check whether the non striker was backing a bit too much. However, nothing dramatic happened and the bowler went back to resume bowling again.
The next ball was pitched up to the batsman, who crunched it straight to the hands of the short cover fielder, who kept calm under pressure and there was no run once again.
Aaron was under immense pressure, as he was continuously given advice from the batsman at the other end.
The debutant moved a touch away from the stumps this time around and attempted a slog over midwicket boundary. There was no connection and three dot balls meant that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 now needed three off three to win.
Aaron finally managed to sneak a quick single off the fourth ball of the over, as he pushed the ball towards mid-off and ran. There was a mis-field by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Marlon-Nathaniel-Samuels-c74804 otherwise there could have been a run-out.
It was up to Ashwin now, the batsman who scored his maiden Test ton in the previous innings. However, he managed just one run off the final two balls, which saw the match end in a draw with scores levelled.
West Indian pacer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-Rampaul-c2233 bowled his heart out in the innings, picking up three wickets, but failed to guide his side to a win.
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