Captain Darren Sammy stood out with an incisive spell of pace bowling Monday that helped the West Indies take a useful 95-run lead over India at the close of the second day of the first Test at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium. The pace bowler took three wickets in 11 deliveries to finish with 3-35 as India was dismissed for 209 in reply to West Indies' first innings score of 304. In its second innings, West Indies was 21-2 as India's move of opening with spin bowlers paid off. Openers Kraigg Brathwaite (2) and Kieran Powell (0) were removed by Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin as 17 wickets fell on a day that saw the ball keep low on some occasions. But the one period in which West Indies took command featured Sammy producing his timely strikes. He helped seize the initiative after leg-spinner Devender Bishoo had done the early damage with two wickets. Pace bowler Ravi Rampaul later came on to take two more wickets and also end Rahul Dravid's (54) brave resistance. Sammy had Yuvraj Singh caught in the covers for 23 before removing Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravichandran Ashwin without scoring. Dhoni was bowled bat-pad, while Ashwin was caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Cartlon Baugh, who had a memorable day as he also made a smart stumping to remove Virender Sehwag and helped Bishoo take his first wicket. India had been given a brisk start of 89 in only 12.3 overs by Sehwag and Gambhir but their unusual dismissals triggered a flurry of wickets. “We were prepared for the attack from Sehwag and Gambhir with the new ball,” Sammy said. “But we were prepared with a plan with the old ball, looking to bowl in the right areas.” Sehwag said the team was capable of chasing a challenging target. “The match is evenly poised at this stage. We are confident of chasing a target of up to 250 or 300,” Sehwag said.
