NAGPUR — India's batting woes continued to haunt it with the top-order batsmen succumbing tamely yet again as England snapped up four quick wickets to gain firm control of the crucial fourth and final cricket Test here Friday. After posting a decent score of 330 in the first innings, the visitors exploited the slow and uneven bounce of the track to leave India gasping at a precarious 87 for four at close on an eventful second day which saw nine wickets fall. Paceman James Anderson (3-24) did the bulk of the damage, while Graeme Swann chipped in with a wicket as the out-of-form Indian batsmen put up another pathetic display with none of them willing to show the application and temperament to hang in there. Virat Kohli (11) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (8) were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day, with the hosts still trailing by 243 runs. Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 199 for five, England did well to stretch its first innings total to 330 with debutant Joe Root (73), Matt Prior (57) and Swann (56) being the notable contributors. Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla was the pick of the Indian bowlers with a career-best haul of 4-69, while paceman Ishant Sharma (3-49) and R. Ashwin (1-66) were the other wicket-takers. The failure of India's famed batsmen again let the team down badly as Virender Sehwag (0), Gautam Gambhir (37), Cheteswar Pujara (26) and Sachin Tendulkar (2) could not stay for long. Tendulkar was bowled by Anderson. With three full days left in the match, England has placed itself on course for its first series win on Indian soil in 28 years. India, on the other hand, will have to bat out of its skins to save the ignominy of its third successive defeat. New T20 league in Caribbean A new franchise-based Twenty20 league will begin play in the Caribbean next year the West Indies Cricket Board said Thursday, filling the hole left by the collapse of Allen Stanford's tournament. The Stanford 20/20, held in 2006 and 2008, kick-started Caribbean interest in the shortest form of the game but since the collapse of the Texan's financial empire, leading to his imprisonment for fraud, there has been a lack of resources for players. The West Indies was crowned Twenty20 world champion this year and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has run a lower-key regional tournament to keep top players involved in the shortest format. But the new league promises to give Caribbean cricket a much-needed financial boost too. The WICB said its agreement with Barbados and New York based merchant bank Verus International would ensure annual funding for new retainer contracts for regional players, above and beyond the 20 main squad members who are contracted. “This will bring a host of benefits to players and West Indies Cricket in general,” WICB President Julian Hunte said. The competition is expected to comprise up to six privately owned city-based teams. No details were immediately available on how those franchises would be created or any potential owners. Ajmal Khan, chairman and CEO of Verus said there was huge potential for the league. “We believe that the recently won World Twenty20 is a testament to the quality and excitement of West Indies cricket,” he said. “We intend to utilize the Twenty20 league to further develop and strengthen West Indies cricket by expanding the global fan base as well as the number of West Indian cricketers under regional retainer contracts”. — Agencies
