On this day in 2011: India and West Indies play out a thrilling Test in Mumbai
India was set for a whitewash at home against West Indies in 2011 having taken a 2-0 lead in the 3-match Test series. The 5-wicket win in Delhi was followed by an innings victory at the Eden Gardens as India won their 2nd Test series of the year over the Caribbean team. The final Test was hosted by the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where the fans hoped to witness the 100th century in International cricket from the bat of the local boy, Sachin Tendulkar.
However, the Indian fans waited for nearly two days to even get a chance to see their team walk out to bat. On a flat surface, the West Indies batsmen finally showed some resistance as each of their top six scored at least 60 runs. Darren Bravo was the star with the bat smashing a 284-ball 166 with the help of 17 fours. West Indies, at one stage, were positioned at 474/3 in 150 overs but Ravi Ashwin’s 5-wicket haul saw the visitors bowl out for 590 on the 3rd day morning.
The Indian team also got a decent start but lack of big knocks saw them struggling to overcome the West Indies’ first-innings total. India began the 4th day at 281/3 but lost VVS Laxman in the 2nd over only. Sachin Tendulkar, who was the centre of attraction, moved from 67 to 94 pretty quickly. However, his innings was six runs short of a hundred when he cut one off Ravi Rampaul straight into the hands of Daren Sammy at the 2nd slip. Soon, the Indian team was 331/6 and were still 60 runs away from avoiding the follow-on.
The eventual final day
But Ashwin followed his bowling efforts with his maiden Test century as he scored 103 from only 118 deliveries. He batted alongside Virat Kohli (52) and the tail to take India to 482 by the Tea interval. West Indies ended the day on 81/2 and extended their lead to 189 as the match was set towards a draw. Some quality bowling from Pragyan Ojha (6) and Ashwin (4) on the final day morning saw the Caribbean team bundled out for only 134 leaving India to chase 243 in 64 overs to effect a whitewash.
On a turning Wankhede track, Virender Sehwag smashed 60 from only 65 balls as India raced to the 100-run mark in only 18.5 overs losing just one wicket. Sehwag’s dismissal in the 20th over triggered a mini-collapse as Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar followed the opener to the pavilion as India were four wickets down for 113. Virat Kohli struck his second fifty of the game as he scored 63 from 114 balls. He was dismissed in the bowling of Devendra Bisho at the score of 224/7 in the 60th over.
At this stage, India’s hopes were on Ashwin as the hosts were 19 runs away from a win in 29 balls. Ishant Sharma was the 8th wicket to fall in the Indian innings leaving India to score four runs from seven deliveries. The new batsman Varun Aaron took a single on the last ball and retained the strike for the final over against Fidel Edwards. Ashwin returned to strike for the 5th ball thanks to a misfield from Marlon Samuels at mid-off.
Ashwin failed to connect the penultimate delivery as India still needed two runs but it also ruled out a win for West Indies as they can’t get two wickets on the final ball. Ashwin cleverly hit the final ball down the ground and completed an easy single but the slow start in the first run ensured he never got a chance to complete the second run. Thus, India fell one run short of a whitewash and the match became just the 2nd in the history of Test cricket to end in a draw with the scores level.
