November 02 Saturday 2002
Windies move ahead after Chanderpaul century 

KOLKATA: Shivnarine Chanderpaul cracked an unbeaten 136 as West Indies moved ahead of India on day three of the third and final Test on Friday. 

The gritty left-hander's sixth Test century, made from 255 balls and including 16 fours and six, helped the tourists amass a total of 446 for five at the close, 88 runs ahead. 

Chanderpaul, who has now made five centuries against India, shared an unbroken 191-run sixth-wicket stand with Marlon Samuels, who was on a career-best 89 in his first appearance of the tour. 

The two rescued West Indies after they lost two wickets in the morning session. 

Chanderpaul reached his century, his first in Tests outside the Caribbean, off 179 balls by hitting veteran seamer Javagal Srinath for two to deep point, and he celebrated by lifting both arms in the air, hugging Samuels and kneeling to kiss the pitch. The 28-year-old had started slowly, getting his first 42 runs up to lunch off 104 balls, but cut loose in the second session. Chanderpaul punished India's bowlers to all corners of Eden Gardens as runs came at a brisk rate, Samuels joining in with some lusty blows. 

The pair were particularly harsh on leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who Chanderpaul hammered him for three boundaries through the on-side in one over and a four and a six over mid-wicket off successive balls in the next. 

Samuels drove seamer Ashish Nehra over extra cover for two fours and hit Kumble for on-side boundaries before raising his 50 from 116 balls. 

He became more aggressive in the last hour as the light faded, ending the with 15 boundaries in his 167-ball knock that came in just under four hours at the crease. 

Play was called off 25 minutes ahead of schedule again due to bad light on the third day, which India had started on a confident note. Opener Chris Gayle, on 80 overnight, hit Srinath for a straight boundary but Kumble trapped him for 88, inducing a bat-pad catch at forward short-leg as the left-hander pushed forward defensively. 

Gayle, whose 172-run opening partnership with fellow Jamaican Wavell Hinds (100) had lifted his side on the second day, hit 15 fours and a six facing 229 balls in five-and-a-half hours at the crease. 

Skipper Carl Hooper struggled against Kumble's googlies but twice lofted the bowler over extra-cover and mid-off for fours to play himself in and then hit Nehra's first delivery of the morning past extra cover. 

But Nehra provided the breakthrough when he forced Hooper to edge an angled delivery and young wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel took a low catch diving to his right as West Indies slipped from 189 for three overnight to 255 for five. 

Hooper struck three fours in his 74-ball 19. But just when it looked as though India would press home the advantage as they had done when building a winning 2-0 lead in the series, Chanderpaul and Samuels defied the odds with chanceless knocks. 

Chanderpaul scored three centuries against India, including a career-best 140 at Guyana, during West Indies' 2-1 Test series win in the Caribbean earlier this year. 

The 21-year-old Samuels, who made his Test debut against Australia at Adelaide in late 2000, was left out for Ryan Hinds in the first two matches of this series.