Injured Kumble returns to wound WI

St. John's (Antigua), May 12: Top leg-spinner Anil Kumble returned to bowl with a fractured jaw to hurt the West Indies batting pride in the fourth Test against India here on Sunday.

It was difficult to recognise the 31-year-old when he made a surprise appearance with the bandaged jaw in the last session of the third day, only to restrict the hosts to 187-3 in reply to India's 513-9 declared.

Ramnaresh Sarwan was batting on 50 and skipper Carl Hooper on 26 as the West Indies required 127 more runs with seven wickets in hand to avoid a follow-on. 

Kumble stunned not only his teammates, but also batting superstar Brian Lara who was trapped leg-before for four by a straighter one.

Hooper was then caught by Shiv Das at forward short-leg off a no-ball from Kumble, who bowled 14 disciplined overs in pain to finish with 1-29.

Kumble, struck on the jaw by a rising delivery from fast bowler Mervyn Dillon while batting on Saturday, was greeted by his team-mates as well as a handful of Indian spectators.

The spinner needed medical attention by team physio Andrew Leipus near the boundary after each over, but continued to bowl with nagging accuracy to make the batsmen struggle for runs.

"He insisted on bowling," said Indian manager Gautam Dasgupta.

There were more surprises in store for the hosts as part-time spinner Sachin Tendulkar bowled a free-stroking Wavell Hinds round the legs for 65.

Kumble's decision to bowl after a visit to a hospital in the morning nearly overshadowed young Ajay Ratra's feat of becoming the first Indian wicekt-keeper to slam an away Test century in 49 years.

Also pushed into the background was left-handed opener Hinds's return to the Test squad with an impressive knock and Sarwan's solid half-century.

Hinds and Chris Gayle (32) put on 65 for the opening wicket, the West Indies' best in the ongoing series.

India were indebted to Ratra for crossing the 500-mark for the first time in the series as the 20-year-old struck 12 fours in his 244-ball 115 not out.

He also had a hand in the first dismissal, taking a low catch to his left to account for Gayle off left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan.

The morning session belonged to Ratra, the only specialist Indian wicket-keeper to score a century on foreign soil.

Vijay Manjrekar was the last to score a Test hundred abroad, against the West Indies in Jamaica in 1953. He, however, was a batsman who kept wickets in that match in place of Padmanabh Joshi.

The highest score in an overseas Test by a specialist Indian wicket-keeper was 89, by Farookh Engineer against Australia in 1967 at Adelaide.

Ratra, 93 overnight, overcame quite a few anxious moments on 99 before reaching his century with a four to fine-leg off Dillon.

He survived a confident leg-before appeal off Dillon, needed on-field medical help after being struck on the fingers by a rising delivery from Cameron Cuffy and then almost fell on to the stumps while avoiding a Dillon bouncer.

Ratra hardly betrayed any emotions when he completed his first century in three Tests with the 12th boundary, just taking off his helmet and raising his bat to mark the special occasion.

India batted 16 overs before declaring their first innings closed, losing three wickets for 51 runs after resuming at 462-6.

Venkatsai Laxman was the first to go, treading on to his stumps while attempting to play a rising ball from Dillon on the leg-side.

He added just six to his overnight score of 124, hitting 14 fours in his 244-ball knock.

Cuffy bagged the last two wickets, having Zaheer caught by wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs for four and Javagal Srinath by Lara in the covers for 15.

Dillon, Cuffy and Pedro Collins each finished with three wickets.