Indians 87/3 in second innings; Windies 'A' all out for 266

Ashish Shukla in Arundel, England

Opener Wasim Jaffer was batting fluently as Indians ended the second day of their three-day match against West Indies 'A' at 87 for three in their second innings after dismissing the 'A' side for 266 in the first innings.

At stumps, Jaffer was batting on 43 with Parthiv Patel on nought.

Earlier, India had declared the first innings at their overnight score of 253 for seven.

Paceman Ajit Agarkar and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh claimed four wickets each to wreck West Indies 'A' after a 101-run fifth wicket stand between Ryan Hinds (62) and Dwayne Bravo (55).

However, the Indians were disappointed with the cheap dismissal of opener Shiv Sunder Das for the second time in this match at the picturesque Arundel Castle ground.

Das was out to the first ball of the second innings when he flirted with a ball leaving his leg stump by a fair margin. He had made 29 in the first innings.

Fortunately, Jaffer and Sanjay Bangar (27) were in good control against a reasonably decent West Indian attack, which included the likes of pacemen Reon King and Marlon Black.

Jaffer looked in great touch, languid yet forceful and didn't allow anything slightly off the line go unpunished. He has so far hit six fours during his elegant knock.

Bangar, who was out leg before to Reon King, did his chances no harm by his confident approach against the pacemen on a wicket that afforded generous swing and seam movement on the second day.

Bangar also was given a longish spell with the ball when West Indies 'A' batted earlier in the day. He conceded only 46 runs from his 16 overs, beating the edge quite often, but was unlucky not to pick up a wicket.

Windies opener Devon Smith (69), who enjoyed as many as four lives, was the top scorer.

However, he was run out in a very comical fashion. Smith saw himself being dropped by Jaffer in gully and took off for a single only to find Harbhajan Singh at point swoop down on the ball and send in a return at the non-striker's end and miss it by a mile. Fortunately Agarkar backed up well from mid-on and beat Smith with an accurate throw.

Despite his chances, the opener played an attractive innings and cracked 11 fours.

India made early inroads into the West Indies 'A' innings when Agarkar sent back Darren Ganga (4) and Donovan Pagan (0) in his first spell and his partner Tinu Yohannan sent back Lendl Simmons (4).

West Indies, 88 for 3 at lunch, made merry in the second session adding 148 runs through Hinds and Bravo.

Yesterday's report

Mongia, Laxman strike form in tour match

Mail Cricket Editor