Bhuvneshwar Kumar made the ball talk to give India a shot at victory, with another Day 5 where the West Indies will be expected to hold out with the willow in the offing. Having done so well to thwart India in the second Test match, all that courage and skill will be needed on the final day of the third Test match in St. Lucia, thanks largely to some outstanding swing bowling from the new-ball bowler.
When Bhuvneshwar gets that ball moving around both ways, he is a handful, and having lost that ability for a bit, during his career, it was great to see him bring that weapon of his back to Test match cricket. With pace now added to his kitty as well, Bhuvneshwar is a real proposition for any batsman, and so it proved to be as the swing bowler picked up a five-for to break the back of the West Indies batting lineup.
Looking comfortable on 202/3, with Jermaine Blackwood and Marlon Samuels putting on a partnership, Bhuvneshwar came in and dismissed both batsmen with the second new ball, adding another couple more in quick succession as well, before finishing the innings off with the final wicket, in a wonderful spell of 11.4-6-16-5.
West Indies, as a result, were bowled out in their first innings for 225 in 103.4 overs, giving India a lead of 128. Now, the onus was on India to go and bulge that lead as quickly as possible, and they went about doing that well enough, with Ajinkya Rahane (51, 93b, 1x4) striking a half-century, while Rohit Sharma brought his limited-overs skills into play in an unbeaten 57-ball 41, with three sixes and a four coming in that innings so far.
India are on 157/3 in 39 overs at stumps on Day 4 of the third Test match, which saw the entire day three washed out due to rain, for an overall lead of 285, and the big decision for Kohli, who failed with the bat again in this Test match, getting out for just four in the second innings, to make now will be when to declare.
