Despite the twin centuries, West Indies managed to pull things back. West Indies, on their part, will look to build on what looks like a solid base. He already had two tons against the Islanders before the series began, but he has turned out to be one of India’s best batsmen in this series.
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He had scored 46 important runs the previous day, and today he started to impose himself a lot more playing the drive well, flicking the ball into the gaps and lofting the spinners to the boundary.
The visitors have the upper hand in the game largely due to the efforts of Ashwin (99*) and Saha (93*), who batted out another session to stretch their partnership to 190 runs. Ashwin was already in his 90s by then, but Saha kept the majority of strike from here and made the most of it.
There was the occasional streaky shot from Saha, and Shannon Gabriel pinged him in the elbow in the last over before lunch, but he, along with Ashwin, have certainly done enough to give India the advantage after they were once tottering at 126 for 5.
Earlier, Ashwin reached his century with a six off Roston Chase immediately after lunch to register his fourth century of his Test career.
They came together at 126/5, but departed having guided India into a decent, if not quite unbeatable position. India lost its last 5 wickets for a paltry 37-run.
And then the floodgates opened.
Alzarri Joseph, the debutant, picked three wickets as well. R Ashwin, in this series, joins Kapil Dev and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in doing the bat-and-ball double.
India and the West Indies are now playing a four-game Test Match series in the Caribbean. The desperation from the previous Test was gone, and with the new-found confidence, calculated gameplay had replaced it.
The West Indies, with their morale boosted after securing a dramatic draw in second Test, bowled with goal to put the opposition under pressure. West Indies won the toss and utilised the conditions efficiently without being sensational, but India helped them out with their selections.
India were duly made to toil in the field as Kraigg Brathwaite and Leon Johnson shared a patient opening stand of 59.
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But their joy was short lived, as Lokesh Rahul made amends for his dropping of Johnson (on 4*) at second slip off Shami early in the innings. Johnson had tapped the ball a little wide of Rahul at mid-wicket and set of for the run, but Rahul was quick to react and threw down the stumps at the non-striker’s end with an accurate throw.
