The West Indies did themselves proud with a wonderful batting performance in the second Test, but, on Saturday, what was expected from them in Jamaica, unfortunately, came to the fore in St Lucia as India ran through the home team's batting lineup to seal the Test series in emphatic fashion.
With rain washing out the entire day three, it looked like this match was headed for a draw, which would have meant India going into the final Test of the series with just a 1-0 lead, when, after their opening win, a whitewash looked inevitable.
However, some good bowling, especially from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and quick batting on Day 4 gave India hope, before the bowlers ran through the West Indies bating lineup like a knife through hot butter on the final day, with India winning the match by 237 runs and with a session to spare.
West Indies, having been given a not-gonna-happen target of 346 to chase down in just under a day, after India declared their second innings on 217/7 with Ajinkya Rahane (78 n.o., 116b, 2x4) top scoring, the home team buckled under the pressure, getting bowled out for just 108 in 47.3 overs.
The situation looked bleak for the West Indies after the first session, with India picking up three wickets – one for each of the fast bowlers Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar (12-6-13-1) and Ishant Sharma – to leave them on 53/3. Asking the likes of Roston Chase, Jermaine Blackwood, Shane Dowrich and Jason Holder to forge the kind of partnerships they did in the second Test match another time would have been too much, and so it proved to be.
WI's crumble continued post Lunch as well, as Ishant (7-0-30-2) picked up the big wicket of Chase (10, 43b), the centurion from the last Test match, with a delivery that tailed in brilliantly to knock off the stumps. Blackwood, who also batted so well in the last match, was stumped wonderfully by Wriddhiman Saha, and now with the pressure telling, there really was no saving of the Test match for the West Indies.
Dowrich fell to Shami (11-2-15-3), before Jason Holder ran himself out, to leave West Indies on 88/7. And then, when Darren Bravo (59, 100b, 5x4, 1x6) fell a couple of overs later, caught bat pad off Shami again, it was all over as Ashwin (12-2-28-1) and Ravindra Jadeja (5.3-1-20-2) cleaned up the tail to give India a massive victory, while also banishing the ghosts of Sabina Park, Kingston in some style.
