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 today.
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 31/1, 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, but couldn't induce an edge despite going past the bat on many occasions.
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.
While only 29 runs had come in the first hour of play, the 50-mark for the West Indies had come up in the 24th over of the innings. Then the breakthrough finally came as Mishra (1-7) was introduced into the attack, and Bishoo was stumped going for a sweep shot.
Bravo (11) then came to the crease, and he looked solid there albeit only for a short while. Kohli changing around his bowlers too quickly perhaps helped him in this endeavour, particularly the pacers who all bowled short spells from the Sir Curtly Ambrose End. Ishant and Umesh were taken off after one and two over spells respectively, and then Shami came on to bowl.
It seemed as if Bravo would be able to take the West Indies to lunch without any further loss, but he played at an outswinging delivery that he didn't really need to, and ended up edging behind to keeper Wriddhiman Saha. Marlon Samuels was the other unbeaten batsman at the crease then, heading into the lunch break, but he was yet to get off the mark.
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Warner was also lucky to be bowled off a no-ball by Jayant when on 16.
Ashwin, on the other hand, was not only turning the ball but also kept down the runs with Warner, especially, in no mood to try and attack the home team's spin trump card.
Ashwin, who conceded a four to Renshaw with a poor ball on the batsman's pads in his first over, kept the lid on the run-rate from then on and also bowled three maiden overs in a row before switching over to the pavilion end after a first spell of 8-4-10-0.
The Indians also wasted their first DRS call in the 10th over of the match after their appeal for a catch behind against the tall Renshaw was rejected by the umpire. The TV replays showed appreciable gap between the bat and the ball.
Warner, who was initially outscored by his opening partner, soon got past that phase by striking Jayant for a couple of fours in two overs, forcing India captain Virat Kohli to bring on third spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
With every over, Renshaw grew in confidence in his first innings in India.
The tall England-born Renshaw then got past his partner's score again as he first tickled a ball from Ashwin to fine leg for a boundary.
He then smacked Jadeja, who was not getting the same amount of purchase from the wicket as his spin mates, for a four and then lofted the left-arm spinner in the same over over long on for the first six of the match.
Warner, on 37, had two close calls. He first survived a big leg before shout from Ashwin and then nearly popped up a return catch to the off-spinner in the same over.
Just when the Indians were getting frustrated, Kohli decided to replace the unimpressive Jadeja with Umesh and the fast bowler struck in his very first over, the 28th of the innings, by making Warner chop a ball on to the stumps.
Warner's dismissal also saw Renshaw, not out on 36 off 89 balls, simultaneously retire to the pavilion with tummy trouble.
