Trinidad: Without key senior players, even a second-string India will be hard to stop for the struggling West Indies when the two sides meet in a T20 match today.

India are without seniors such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and their regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, but they can still turn the tables on the West Indians whom they have never beaten in a Twenty20 match before.

West Indies have two of the most economical medium-pacers in skipper Darren Sammy and Ravi Rampaul but the Oval pitch appears to have been made more for India’s taste.

India has three top spinners in Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin and Amit Mishra to take advantage of the surface while West Indies have only young leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo who could do likewise.

India have twice faced West Indies in Twenty20 internationals, first during the 2009 Twenty20 World Championships, when they lost by seven wickets at Lords, and then  West Indies repeated the result in the second encounter, again during the Twenty20 World Cup.

Team Lineup

West Indies: Darren Sammy (capt), Christopher Barnewell, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Andre Fletcher, Danza Hyatt, Ashley Nurse, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons

India: Suresh Raina (capt), Harbhajan Singh (vice-capt), S Badrinath, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Vinay Kumar, Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Munaf Patel

“I would be lying if I say I was not expecting a berth in the World Twenty20 squad,” Mishra told the Times of India. “I have been doing well, but then I can’t control certain things. In fact, if anything I am motivated to do even better. There are a couple of counties who have offered me a pro contract. If I get permission from the BCCI, I may just go and play for them.”

Mishra has been unlucky on more than one occasion, with Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla being given preference over him in the one-day and T20 side. Mishra’s bowling has received its share of criticism, but the leg-spinner remains focused on his strengths. “See, there are a lot of people who say that Mishra is too slow, he should play domestic cricket a little more, he is this, he is that. Sometimes, I do get affected by all this. But then there are the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Sehwag and Dhoni who have advised me a lot,” said Mishra.

“Sehwag cited his own example and said that I should continue doing things which I have done [well] to get a place in the Indian team. Others advised me to be patient and keep working on my game, but I guess it is important to be thick-skinned when you are playing for India,” Mishra said.

Mishra has often been thrown the new-ball by his captain, Gautam Gambhir, in the IPL and met with success. “I was always mentally prepared to open the bowling, as at times we had to take the pace off the ball. If you ask me the high-point of this IPL, it would have to be the manner in which I dismissed Jacques Kallis with a googly. It was a planned dismissal and gave me immense satisfaction,” said Mishra. “I bowled a googly because Kallis has this habit of going over the top on the off-side and I was just trying to target the gap between his bat and pad. You can say I got lucky.”

Mishra and his Delhi captain, Gautam Gambhir, go back a long way, having played together at various levels in their preparatory years. “Yeah, Gautam is my best friend. We learnt our cricket together, grew up together and share a lot both on and off the field. But he is extremely aggressive and if anyone thinks that being his friend means that I can get away with a below par show, it is absolutely wrong. He is the kind of cricketer and you can check this with anyone who has played with him, who will drop me if he thinks that I don’t fit the bill,” Mishra said.

Chasing a steep target of 189 to win, the Royals were bowled out for 121 in 17.4 overs. They never got going in their run chase, losing Michael Lumb (0) and Faiz Fazal (1) in the very first over of the innings bowled by Farveez Maharoof, the former holding out to an outstanding catch by David Warner.

Rajasthan never recovered from the early blows, except when Yusuf Pathan looked like playing another one of his trademark innings where he was hitting everything out of the ground. But his cameo ended at a 14-ball 24. Once Pathan fell, it was just a formality with with wickets falling regularly.

Amit Mishra was the most successful bowler for Delhi, with three wickets for just 25 runs off his four overs. Fellow leg-spinner Sarabjit Ladda picked two wickets. It was also the fielding by the Daredevils as much as the bowling which made run-scoring so difficult for the Royals, with David Warner taking four catches and also running out Shane Warne with a direct hit from long-on.

Earlier, after winning the toss and electing to bat, the Daredevils got off to a disastrous start, with David Warner (four) and Virender Sehwag (19) falling in the fourth over bowled by Sumit Narwal.

Delhi were further dented when Paul Collingwood (16) was dismissed after a huge mix-up with the Daredevils skipper Gautam Gambhir. However, with the wicket of the young Kedar Jhadav (10), Karthik and Gambhir got together and the duo batted with a lot of maturity to consolidate the Delhi innings. The experienced pair added 79 runs to set up Delhi for the death overs.

Karthik then went berserk in the final overs; hitting Shaun Tait for 31 runs in his final two overs and helping Delhi post a massive score.

Tait, in fact, earned the dubious record of the most expensive bowling figures of IPL 2010. The pacer gave away 54 runs for one wicket in his four overs.

Match Summary:

Delhi Daredevils 188 for 6 (Karthik 69, Gambhir 43) beat Rajasthan Royals 121 (Mishra 3-25) by 67 runs

Man of the Match: Dinesh Karthik

Dhoni said that the post-tea session on the opening day of the game, in which India scalped seven South African wickets, tilted the game in his team’s favour and even though the side was missing Zaheer Khan, who had strained a leg muscle, on the final day, Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra stepped up and shouldered the extra responsibilty.

“The bowlers were really great. The wicket did nothing on the first day. It was not a turner as such but Mishy (Mishra) and Bhajji (Harbhajan) bowled really well,” Dhoni said. “Today, we didn’t have Zaheer and the bowlers bowled really well. We had lost one day’s play and today we did not have Zaheer. We desperately wanted to be on the winning side because of the amount of effort that the three bowlers put in today,” he said.

“Mishra bowled really well. It was good to see Ishant (Sharma) bowling with rhythm and pace and bowling in right areas. Bhajji too was brilliant. There is so much pressure on him ever since Anil Kumble retired. Every time he walks out, people expect him to get 3-4 wickets,” Dhoni said.

The victory didn’t come easy for India as the last South African pair of Hashim Amla and Morne Morkel batted for close to 80 minutes and 20 overs before Harbhajan, who rediscovered his form in his happy hunting ground with eight crucial wickets, removed Morkel to trigger off euphoria across the Eden Gardens.

Harbhajan said with time running out, he had his heart in his mouth. “The heart was pumping. I’m very happy. Today we bowled with just three bowlers but we have done the job. Eden has been special to me. I don’t know what it is but I have done well here always,” he said.

“We wanted to remain at the top of the table. We know we have got the players and the team to remain the number one side,” said the offie, who opted out of the first two ODIs against South Africa to attend his sister’s marriage. “By the time I return to the side for the third and final match, we should have won the series 2-0,” he quipped.

India’s batting genius, Sachin Tendulkar, also cherished the moment and saluted the bowlers for their never-say-die spirit. “It was a good Test and good to see the scoreboard saying that we remain the number one Test team,” said Sachin, who notched up his 47th Test ton in this match. “Our seamers did a decent job on day one. But it was Harbhajan’s three wickets in the final session that made a lot of difference and then Zaheer claimed a couple. They set up a good platform for us.”

Unlike Harbhajan, Tendulkar said he was confident that South Africa would not be able to save the match. “No match is over till the last ball is bowled. I knew it was just a matter of getting enough bowl in the right areas. After all, we needed just one wicket,” Tendulkar said.

Although India won the match, nobody would ever forget the marathon effort of Hashim Amla, who batted for more than 8 hours to score an unbeaten 127, his second century in the match.  ”I’m tired and disappointed we lost the match,” said a weary Amla whose 394-ball vigil went in vain.

“Me and Morne were just having some fun out there. He played really well and so did (Wayne) Parnell earlier. Fortunately, Morne and Parnell are decent batsmen and took lots of pressure of me,” said the right-hander, who got centuries in both the innings to bag the Man of the Match award.

“I am just grateful that I have had a good tour. Unfortunately we lost. It was a very good wicket and we could have saved it. There wasn’t anything unplayable from the wicket,” said Amla, who was also adjudged Man of the Series for scoring 490 runs in the two-match series.

Proteas skipper Graeme Smith felt his team should have batted better in the first essay and held their catches. “We should have batted better in the first innings. We then came and dropped a few catches. The pitch (here) was still good,” he said.

Lavishing praise on Amla, he said, “He has been outstanding through the series. He is become our glue at number three. I don’t think any of us have seen him play better. He has a calm mind and has been working very hard.”

India, who needed seven wickets on the final day to win the game, were made to work hard for every wicket and it wasn’t until the fag end of the day that they had their moment of glory as Hashim Amla, scoring his third consecutive hundred and probably the best among the three, almost carried South Africa home with a heroic effort. Amla stayed at the crease for more than 8 hours in his innings of 127 not out during which he faced 394 deliveries.

India just couldn’t get Amla out. So, they did the clever thing of not even trying to! India, taking the field with just three bowlers with Zaheer Khan pulling a leg muscle before the beginning of the day, led by Harbhajan Singh, found a way around Amla, leaving him stranded at one end. With just 9 mandatory balls to be bowled, Harbhajan Singh trapped Morne Morkel, who had resisted for 76-minutes with Amla, with a slider that went straight-on and hit Morkel right in front of the wickets. As the finger went up, the capacity Eden crowd erupted in thunderous applause and the Indian team tried to catch hold of Harbhajan, who almost ran all the way back to Punjab in his victory lap!

It didn’t come easy for India and one has to give it to them for showing immense fighting spirit. The Indian bowlers, who have often been accused of not being good enough to retain the No. 1 ranking for India, bowled their hearts out. Spinners Harbhajan Singh (5/59) and Amit Mishra (3/84) were the wreckers-in-chief as they ripped through the South African middle order but it was the spirited resistance from Amla and the tail-enders that delayed the victory. The last three South African wickets batted out 53.3 overs and it was only the never-say-die attitude of the Indian bowlers that got them home.

But among all the carnage, one man stood defiant. He was out on a mission to reclaim the No. 1 spot for his team. The 8 hours and 19 minutes that he spent at the wicket during this innings took the total time that he has spent at the crease in this series to 23 hours and 22 minutes. Hashim Amla did all that he could to save the game for South Africa and only if he had got better support from the other end, he would have! It was a remarkable effort by Amla who not only notched up his 10th Test ton but showed amazing temperament and skill to negotiate the Indian bowlers on a fifth day Eden Gardens track.

Amla, however, achieved the rare feat of scoring centuries in all the innings he played in the series. He was deservedly named the Man of the Match and the Man of the Series.

India, on the other hand, showed a lot of character to bounce back the way they did. They lost in Nagpur by an innings inside four days. Coming to Kolkata, they had everything to lose. Luck clearly wasn’t on their side with weather playing spoilsport throughout the match, the fourth day almost washed out completely, and then losing their bowling spearhead on the final day.

If not anything else, with this win, India proved once and for all, that they deserve to be No. 1 team in test cricket.

Match Summary:

India 643 for 6 dec (Sehwag 165, Laxman 143*, Dhoni 132*, Tendulkar 106) beat South Africa 296 (Amla 114, Petersen 100, Zaheer 4-90, Harbhajan 3-64) and 289 (Amla 127*, Harbhajan 5-59, Mishra 3-78) by an innings and 58 runs

Man of the Match: Hashim Amla

Man of the Series: Hashim Amla

Kirsten said with South Africa 115 for three and still trailing by 232 runs, India held the edge but all would hinge on how many overs’ play is possible on the final day. “We are in a pretty good position, we have got them three down and now we need just seven more wickets. It all depends on how much time we have,” said Kirsten.

Asked how many overs he thinks India would require to claim the remaining seven South African wickets, Kirsten said, “Hopefully we will need 40 or 50. But it’s very difficult with this weather.”

The Indian coach, however, believes that getting rid of South Africa’s batting mainstay, Jacques Kallis, just before the close of play was a big relief for the team. “It was handy getting Kallis out before the bad light. They got some good players all the way through,” he said.

Kirsten also lavished praise on his spinners and said the entire bowling unit would go all out for victory. “Amit (Mishra) bowled really good today and so did Harbhajan (Singh). With the two of them bowling really well and Ishant (Sharma) and Zaheer (Khan) adding to attack, we are really in a good position. It’s only about how many overs available to us tomorrow,” he said.

Kirsten said overall the team played well in this Test and they need to keep up the good work on Thursday. “We have had a very good Test, we played good cricket all the way through. We have done what we felt we needed to do. As anyone knows, we are in a good position and obviously we would like to close it up giving our best shot in the amount of time we have got,” he said.

He said that the first target would be to remove Hashim Amla, who has been in tremendous form and is holding the fort for South Africa with an unbeaten 49. “He is a quality player, he has played quality cricket this series and he is in really good form. It’s up to us to make sure that we bowl them out. We have to bowl a lot of balls in good areas so that we can put them under pressure and get them out,” he said.

After the disappointing innings and six-run loss in Nagpur, India put on a vastly improved show here and Kirsten said the players just worked on the areas they could have done better in.

“There was disappointment. There was a bit of talk around and they said they would sort it out. It’s amazing how Test match cricket works. Funny things happen. South Africa were 218 for one and then we were able to turn it around. This team is playing with a lot of pride at the moment, we are proud at the way they are going about their performances,” he said.

He said that the way India has bounced back in the series reaffirms why India is the number one team in test cricket.

“We did not become the number one Test team out of nothing. We have got guys who have got ranking records. I think we are very proud of our performances. We had a wobble in the last test, we were unfortunate with injuries as well, losing quite a few experienced players. But we bounced back. We can take a lot of pride in the guys who were really determined to bounce back. This team has shown over a while now that when they are back to the wall they can bounce back. I am happy not only for the batsmen but for the bowlers as well,” Kirsten said.

Kirsten also hailed the return of VVS Laxman who had an unbeaten century to his name in India’s big total of 643-6 declared. “He is a high quality player. It was great to have him back. We know what he can do and what he is capable of,” he said.

Before the start of the series, South African adventure-explorer Mike Horn had given the team a pep talk to square off the series and Kirsten also took the occasion to thank him.

“It was just fantastic to listen to him. Paddy (Upton) organised it for the team. The guys were really inspired by him. The timing just worked well. He is quite a busy man, at the moment he is travelling around the world. He just happened to be in this area this time. Paddy knows him quite well, it just happened. The guys really enjoyed his inspirational stuff. We enjoyed having him around,” Kirsten said.

The tourists, who were trailing by 347 runs in the first innings, lost three key wickets on the rain-curtailed fourth day to finish at 115-3 in their second innings by stumps at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Just 34.1 overs were bowled during the day as a wet outfield caused by overnight rain delayed the start by 90 minutes and overcast conditions and bad light interrupted play regularly.

In the few overs sent down in the day, leg-spinner Amit Mishra sent back skipper Graeme Smith (20) and Jacques Kallis (20), and Harbhajan Singh dismissed Alviro Petersen. Hashim Amla was unbeaten on 49 and Ashwell Prince was yet to get off the mark when the umpires finally called off play for the day.

India, which lost the first Test in Nagpur by an innings and six runs, will now be hoping to get a full day’s play on Thursday as they attempt to draw the series and retain their number one Test ranking.

South Africa, who are currently ranked second in the ICC Test rankings, will take over from India if the match ends in a draw, giving the Proteas a 1-0 series win.

Match Summary:

South Africa 296 and 115 for 3 (Amla 49*, Mishra 2-15) trail India 643 for 6 dec by 232 runs

In reply to South Africa’s massive first innings total of 558 for six declared, India were 25 for no loss after the second day’s play. Kirsten said the Indians should bat themselves back into the contention on Monday.

“We certainly will give the best shot to win the game. We need to bat well. That’s going to be very important,” Kirsten said at the end of second day’s play. “There is lot of work to do on the batting side. A couple of guys have to apply themselves and get big scores on board. We know we are capable of doing that. It’s a big day from the batting perspective tomorrow.”

India’s task would be even more difficult since they are missing middle-order stalwarts like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman but Kirsten seemed to have enough trust in the ability of young substitutes S Badrinath and Murali Vijay. “(In Dravid and Laxman) you got two batsmen who have played over 100 Tests each and obviously you are going to miss their experience. But I think it’s a great opportunity for the likes of Vijay and Badrinath to do something. They are quality players. It’s a great opportunity what they can manage against a top-ranked international team,” Kirsten said.

Talking about the Indian bowling attack, which looked spineless against the South Africans in the first innings, Kirsten said that he was happy with both the fast and slow bowlers. “The guys bowled their hearts out. I thought Amit Mishra bowled really very well for no wicket. He went past the outside edge, I don’t know how many times. You have days like that when you don’t really get the results you want, but from a coach’s point of view I was pretty happy with the effort that we put in,” he said.

“All the bowlers bowled really well. I thought Harbhajan’s rhythm was fantastic. He was a bit unlucky,” he added.

Asked about the absence of a fifth frontline bowler on the slow-paced pitch, the India coach said the team had produced good results in recent times with four bowlers. “In the last 15 Tests we have not played a fifth bowler, except one Test in Bangladesh. We have got a pretty good record without the fifth bowler,” he replied.

He said the idea was to keep the runs under check and his bowlers have succeeded in doing that. “From 291 for two (overnight South Africa score) we had to get wickets or keep the run-rate down. We were not getting that many wickets and so were happy to keep the run-rate down to reasonable level,” he said.

Kirsten also lavished praise on South African batsmen Jacques Kallis (173) and Hasim Amla, who hit a career-best unbeaten 253. “Kallis and Amla batted exceptionally well. If the batting from the other side is really good, you got to acknowledge that. Two guys applied themselves and did a fantastic job to get the big partnership going,” Kirsten said.

Asked about Amla, with whom he has played earlier, Kirsten said he always believed in his ability. “I always thought he was a fine player. We knew when his time will come he’s going to get big hundreds for his country. He’s proved what he’s capable of doing. It was a superb innings. Even in domestic cricket he was getting big hundreds. (I give) full credit to him,” he said.

Kirsten also clarified reports of Laxman being left out of the side despite practising in the nets, saying the Hyderabadi was not match-fit. “He was not fully fit, not match fit. He could hit some balls. The decision taken by the management and him is that he was not ready for a Test match,” Kirsten said.

Talking about the pitch at the VCA Stadium, the coach said there already was some turn in it but the South African batsmen proved there was nothing to panic. “I think it’s taking some turn but, as the South African batsmen showed it, not that it was out of hand. It’s up to us to bat as well as we can. We did see balls that turned a fair amount, but we expected it at some stage,” he said.

He also thought the South African fast bowlers would find it difficult to get anything out of this pitch. “You have to dig it really short to get it up. There’s very little bounce on the wicket,” he said.

India needed eight wickets to wrap up the match on the final day and it took them almost two sessions to complete a comprehensive win despite a poor batting show in the first innings.

Chasing a target of 415 to win, Bangladesh resumed the final day at 67 for 2. Tamim Iqbal (52) scored a gritty half century while Mushfiqur Rahim certainly put forward a case of batting him up the order by scoring a gutsy 101 but Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for 301 in 75.2 overs.

Rahim took 112 balls to reach his maiden test century, the fastest by any Bangladeshi batsman, throwing his bat at almost everything. His innings included 17 fours and a six before being the last man out when he was caught at long off by Ojha off the bowling of Amit Mishra.

Amit Mishra (4/92), Ishant Sharma (3/48), and Zaheer Khan (2/90) did the job for the Indians, chipping in with wickets at regular intervals to bowl out the hosts at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

With this win, India maintained their unbeaten record in Bangladesh. They have now won five out of six matches in Bangladesh, including a drawn Test in 2007.

The test was in the news right from the beginning as it started with a war of words between the two captains after India’s stand-in captain Virender Sehwag described the hosts as an ordinary side. It was also a memorable game for opening batsman Gautam Gambhir who became the only fourth batsman to have scored five successive Test tons, just one away from Sir Don Bradman’s record of Six tons in Six consecutive tests.

Sachin Tendulkar also reached the milestone of becoming the only player to score 13,000 Test runs by notching up his 44th hundred, which also earned him Man of the Match award.

Both the teams now move to Mirpur for the second and final Test starting on Sunday.

Match Summary:

India 243 (Tendulkar 105, Sehwag 52, Shakib 5-62, Shahadat 5-71) and 413 for 8 dec. (Gambhir 116, Laxman 69, Mishra 50) beat Bangladesh 242 (Mahmudullah 69, Zaheer 3-54, Mishra 3-66) and 301 (Mushfiqur 101, Tamim 52, Mishra 4-92, Ishant 3-48) by 113 runs

Man of the Match: Sachin Tendulkar

India had Bangladesh on the mat at 98 for 6 but the bowlers couldn’t finish off the job as Mahmudullah (69) and Mushfiqur Rahim (44) put together a crucial 108-runs partnership for the seventh wicket to take Bangladesh within one run of India’s first innings score of 243.

Once Bangladesh were dismissed for 242, India then consolidated their lead with a solid start in the second innings, reaching 122 for 1 at stumps, with Gautam Gambhir batting on 47 and nightwatchman Amit Mishra batting on 24.

Stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag was the only man dismissed caught by Raqibul Hasan off the bowling of Shakib Al Hasan for 45.

Earlier, Zaheer Khan (3/54), Amit Mishra (3/66), Ishant Sharma (2/47) and S Sreesanth (2/55) ran through the Bangladesh top order even though the final total could have been a lot smaller.

The seventh wicket stand between Mahmadullah and Rahim frustrated the Indians as the duo scored at a brisk pace, raising their 50 stand in just 66 balls. They picked most of their boundaries off an erratic Sreesanth and went on to raise their 100 runs stand from 152 balls.

Mahmadullah, who was Bangladesh’s best batsman during the tri-series, was the more aggressive of the duo, reaching his fifty from 76 balls with the help of eight fours.

But just as Bangladesh threatened to overtake India’s total, the visiting bowlers struck back with four wickets in 6.1 overs to bundle out the home team for 242 which they made from 65.2 overs.

Match Summary:

India 243 and 122 for 1 (Gambhir 47*, Sehwag 45) lead Bangladesh 242 (Mahmudullah 69, Mushfiqur 44, Zaheer 3-65) by 123 runs