India all out for 102 on first day of third Test against West Indies

Bridgetown, May 2: The nightmare of 1997 returned to haunt India, who were shot out for their sixth-lowest total of 102 against the West Indies in the third Test here on Thursday.

The West Indies' pace crushed India on their second successive visit to the Kensington Oval, with Mervyn Dillon leading a pack of four fast bowlers and finishing with 4-41 from 11 incisive overs.

The hosts lost Stuart Williams (18) before reaching 33-1 at stumps on a rain-curtailed day. Chris Gayle was batting on 14 with Ramnaresh Sarwan yet to open his account.

Dillon was not the only speedster to expose the tourists' batting limitations against pace on a lively track as Adam Sanford (3-20), Cameron Cuffy (1-17) and Pedro Collins (1-24) also kept up the pessure from the other end.

It was pace that had destroyed India at the same venue in 1997 when Sachin Tendulkar's team was dismissed for 81, chasing 120 to win.

Skipper Sourav Ganguly was the lone batsman to give a good account of himself in India's dismal batting performance with a defiant 48 after his team had been put in to bat.

But none of his team-mates supported him against the four-man pace attack on a bouncy pitch.  

Ganguly, who watched the disaster unfold from one end, got frustrated in the later part of his 76-ball knock and tried a couple of big shots in a bid to help his team cross the 100-mark.

The Indian skipper hit Dillon for a four and then lofted him over long-off for a huge six before falling to a spectacular overhead catch by Dillon off Sanford at the third-man boundary.

The demolition began with the first ball of the day when Dillon bowled Shiv Das with one that cut in sharply off the wicket, giving the opener no time to bring his bat down.

This was Das's third consecutive failure, having contributed 10 and nought at Port-of-Spain in the second Test won by India for a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Fellow-opener Wasim Jaffer, playing his first Test in two years, executed a couple of attacking shots in his innings before edging Dillon to wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs, who took three catches in the first innings of his comeback match.

Left-arm fast bowler Collins celebrated his recall to the Test squad with the prized wicket of master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, dismissed for a rare second consecutive duck.

Collins had Tendulkar caught by Jacobs with an angled delivery, much to the delight of his team-mates.

This was the wicket the hosts had been looking for to keep pressure on the famed Indian middle order, comprising Rahul Dravid, Venkatsai Laxman, Tendulkar and Ganguly.

Tendulkar, out for nought in the second innings of the second Test, faced just two balls to leave his team tottering at 27-3.

India never recovered from the blow as their consistent middle order collapsed for the first time in the series.

Dravid was run out for 17 after a mix-up with his skipper, while Laxman misjudged the line of a Cuffy delivery and was bowled off-stump for one.

Ganguly, the last specialist batsman left after Laxman's departure at 51, was often denied strike as Dillon and Sanford bowled intelligently and kept attacking the lower-order batsmen.

Wicket-keeper Ajay Ratra was dropped by Hooper at second slip off Cuffy when on one before being caught at the same score by Jacobs to become Dillon's third victim.

Harbhajan Singh (13) slashed two fours before hooking Sanford straight to Dillon.

Zaheer Khan was caught by Sarwan at forward short-leg while fending a lifter from Sanford, while Srinath was trapped leg-before by Dillon.