Kingston, Jamaica – West Indies captain Darren Sammy believes his team is capable of winning the First Digicel Test match against India. With three days gone and two to go at Sabina Park, the Windies find themselves on 131-3, needing another 195 runs to win the match with seven second innings wickets in the bag.
Resuming on Thursday will be veteran Shiv Chanderpaul and fellow left-hander Darren Bravo. The pair has so far added a fourth-wicket stand of 51 and will carry the side’s hopes into the penultimate day.
Sammy, who took four wickets in a whole-hearted bowling effort, said a "total team effort" is required if the home side is to reach the target and take a 1-0 lead on the three-match rubber.
"Partnerships will be the key. We have to believe we can. We just have to show the commitment and fight. The first hour will be important. The team that wins the first hour will be in a good position. At this stage I would say it’s pretty even. We have two set batsmen at the crease and they are playing well," Sammy said.
"I want to commend the bowlers for the way they stuck to the job and bowled out India under 300 twice. Our bowlers have been doing the hard work, now it’s time for the batsmen to go out and win it for the team."
Apart from Sammy’s 4-52 from 27 overs, leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo was also excellent and took 4-65 to end with 7-140 in the match. India’s batting hero was the legend Rahul Dravid, who made an outstanding 112 from 274 balls in his team’s second innings total 252.
Reflecting on the bowling effort Sammy said: "We were behind in the field so my job was to keep things tight and try to build some pressure. My job was to bowl lots of dot balls and restrict the scoring. That has been my job throughout my Test career and I came here today with that in mind and offered support.
Looking ahead to Thursday, Sammy is backing his most experienced batsman Chanderpaul, who is in his 131st Test match, to come good.
"We all know what Shiv is capable of. He has been excellent throughout his career, he has been in this kind of position many, many times before and he has handled it very well, that’s why he has a Test average of just under 50. To get to this victory target we will need big partnerships."
"We saw a few balls keep low and we saw a few balls bounce and a few spun as well. We should have batted much better in the first innings. This is a good cricket wicket and tomorrow we will be looking to get some good scores from the batsmen."