India consolidate

North Sound: Pacer Mohammed Shami picked up the crucial wicket of Darren Bravo just before lunch to peg West Indies back on day three of the first cricket Test here on Saturday.The hosts reached 90 for three at lunch, still trailing by 476 runs in reply to India's mammoth first innings total of 566 for eight declared.

At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Kraigg Brathwaite (46 batting) defied the Indian bowlers along with Devendra Bishoo (12), as the duo put on 38 for the second wicket but more importantly frustrated the visitors by batting out 17.5 overs.

Starting at their overnight score of 31 for 1, Bishoo looked to stay with his partner for as long as possible, and he was successful in achieving that goal. He frustrated the Indian bowlers for nearly 70 minutes, and in this interim, saw off the likes of Ishant Sharma (0-24), Umesh Yadav (0-12) and Shami (2-23) without much discomfort.

Part of it had to do with the fact that the Indian pacers were guilty of bowling too short, especially to the night watchman. Ishant as the leader of the attack was a disappointment in particular in this scenario as skipper Virat Kohli looked at him twice to bring about a dismissal.

Shami was the one who troubled Bishoo the most. At the other end, Brathwaite was happy to leave as many deliveries as possible, and he was helped by the wide deliveries bowled at him by the Indian pacers. When the spin came on, he looked to attack R Ashwin (0-22) and didn't allow the lead spinner to settle down at all, hitting him for boundaries in successive overs.

Scoreboard: India 1st innings: M Vijay c KC Brathwaite b Gabriel 7, S Dhawan lbw b Bishoo 84, CA Pujara c KC Brathwaite b Bishoo 16, V Kohli b Gabriel 200, AM Rahane c Bravo b Bishoo 22, R Ashwin not out 106.

W Saha st Dowrich b KC Brathwaite 40, A Mishra c Holder b KC Brathwaite 53, M Shami not out 17; Extras (B-6, LB-2, NB-6) 14; Total (For 8 wickets decl in 161.5 overs) 566; Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-74, 3-179, 4-236, 5-404, 6-475, 7-526, 8-566; Bowling: ST Gabriel 21-5-61-2, JO Holder 24-4-83-0, CR Brathwaite 25-5-80-0, RL Chase 34-3-102-0, D Bishoo 43-1-163-3, KC Brathwaite 14.5-1-65-3

West Indies 1st innings: (overnight 31/1) K Brathwaite not out 46, R Chandrika c Saha b Shami 16, D Bishoo st Saha b Mishra 12, D Bravo c Saha b Shami 11, M Samuels not out 0; Extras (LB-2, WD-1, NB-2) 5; Total (For 3 wickets in 44 overs) 90; Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-68, 3-90; Bowling: I Sharma 13-5-24-0, Umesh Yadav 8-5-12-0, M Shami 10-1-23-2, R Ashwin 8-3-22-0, Amit Mishra 5-1-7-1.