Tendulkar misses out on 100th ton

Sachin Tendulkar fell agonisingly short of an unprecedented 100th hundred while Ravichandran Ashwin hit a maiden century as the third Test between India and the West Indies headed for a draw on Friday.

Tendulkar scored a superb 94 and Ashwin a robust 103 in only his third Test before India were bowled out for 482 in their first innings in reply to the West Indies’ 590 on the penultimate day. The tourists were 81-2 in their second innings at stumps for an overall lead of 189 with eight wickets in hand, with teenager Kraigg Brathwaite (34 not out) and Darren Bravo (27 not out) at the crease.

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who opened the attack, removed Adrian Barath (three) and Kirk Edwards (17).

India, needing 391 to avoid the follow-on, were struggling at 331-6 before Virat Kohli (52) and Ashwin added 97 valuable runs for the seventh wicket at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Ashwin also became the third Indian after Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar to grab five wickets in an innings and score a century in the same Test. He hit two sixes and 15 fours in his 118-ball knock.

It was the first time in the history of Test cricket that 11 half-centuries or more were scored in the first innings of a match, with the West Indies making six and India five.

Tendulkar looked set to complete a century of centuries as he had been timing the ball remarkably well before he attempted to drive paceman Ravi Rampaul on the up and was caught by Darren Sammy at second slip.

While the West Indies celebrated the huge success, the “Little Master” walked back dejectedly and nearly 15,000 cheering spectators suddenly fell silent at the 32,000-capacity stadium. AFP