Dravid rallies India again
Either side of fierce winds and a brief tropical shower, it rained wickets at Sabina Park as India took charge of the final Test of the series
Either side of fierce winds and a brief tropical shower, it rained wickets at Sabina Park as India took charge of the final Test of the series
All the support staff, back up players, and Indian fans barge on to the field.... the Indian team go into a triumphant huddle .... what scenes at Sabina Park! India've won the four-Test series 1-0, their first series win in the Caribbean in 35 years, and it's a great moment to cherish. It'll be partytime all night, as the Indians will seek to paint Jamaica red.
India fought hard, so did West Indies, but this match was all over inside three days.
For the Indians Sreesanth and Munaf struck telling blows, maintained the pressure all through, but the stand-out performer was that wily veteran, Anil Kumble, who got 6 for 78 to prove he is a worthy, undoubtable matchwinner anywhere in the world. Dravid led well, played two damn fine innings, but this was a team win at the end.
Denesh Ramdin played a fine innings, resisting till the very end, but it was always an uphill battle once the big guns had gone.Kumble exposed the tail, even though Ramdin was aided well by Taylor and Collins, but in another frenetic spell this Test was wrapped up. Amazing match this has been.
We hope you've enjoyed Cricinfo's coverage of this series, and this Test. Its been a pleasure to bring you the commentary. Please stay with us as we go to the post-match ceremony in a few minutes.
You can read more about the match in Dileep Premachandran's bulletin if you like.
Tony Cozier begins the post-match presentation ceremony by speaking to Brian Lara, the West Indian captain. Lara doesn't pull his punches this time, saying "selection mistakes" are as much to blame for the West Indies debacle as any other single reason. But he is quick to felicitate the winners too: "India deserved to win this Test, after the way Rahul Dravid played...but I'm proud of the boys...we're a team that fights really hard...its an abberation that we're not a tough side...we have things to look at...103 was a very low first-innings total, but we showed alot of character to come back strongly...Ramdin batted very well, the likes of Sarwan and Bravo too...but credit must be given to the Indians..."
Dravid is adjudged the Man of the Match for his two sterling fifties here, and he is also the Man of the Series. That's a fine achievement from a true champion.
Dravid: "It was a fantastic effort...I'd like to congratulate my side...and the suport staff, the whole team...we played well...we came back after the one-day series defeat strongly...its a great win...this was a tough pitch to play on, you had to really grind it out...but once you're set, its a question of going on...we havent won here for 35 years, and outside the subcontinent for 20 years, so we're very pleased...thanks to Brian Lara and his boys for hosting us, and the WICB, and all the fans..."
So that's that, folks, India win the series. That's all we have for you. Again, I hope you've enjoyed Cricinfo's coverage of the entire series. This is Jamie Alter signing off. Cheers!
CD Collymore c †Dhoni b Kumble 0 (1m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
Corey Collymore in...what pressure huh?
India on the verge of a historic away win, just the one wicket to get
PT Collins lbw b Kumble 3 (39m 19b 0x4 0x6) SR: 15.78
Kumble to continue with the breeze behind him
advice for Sreesanth from Munaf..."give him a yorker...into the blockhole"???
Rahul Dravid gives a lesson in the art of defence on a minefield of a pitch with the series at stake
Fazeer Mohammed writes that Brian Lara's statements regarding the pitch and team selection , though justified, leaves the impression that he's fishing for excuses following the loss in Jamaica
The Lowdown on Denesh Ramdin
He might not have made the mountain of runs that Gavaskar manged, but Dravid, throughout the series, was outstanding. In the final Test at Kingston he was plain awesome
Brian Lara comes out with startling revelations while speaking to the media after the Jamaica Test