Barbados, July 2: The second Test between West Indies and India at the Kensington Oval ended in a draw giving the hosts an opportunity to level the three-match series at Dominica.

Looking to clinch the series here at Bridgetown, MS Dhoni declared earlier than expected with a lead of 280 runs. While the Indians were pushing for a win, West Indies batted cautiously in their second innings with the intention of saving the Test.

West Indies lost the wickets of Lendl Simmons and Ramnaresh Sarwan before lunch. After an eventful first session, the relatively sedate post-lunch session saw India claim the singular wicket of Adrian Barath. With the score on 55 runs at the loss of three wickets, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo batted the WI to safety in the post-lunch session. Close to the end of the session, Dhoni introduced Suresh Raina into the attack and rested his pacers.

The very first over after tea saw Chanderpaul adjudged lbw off Harbhajan Singh; the experienced batsmen had batted solidly with Bravo for 28.5 overs, notching up 54 runs. Marlon Samuels, who replaced him in the middle, seemed to continue from where he left off in the previous innings before he was trapped lbw by Sharma for nine runs. At the fall of Samuels’ wicket, West Indies wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh (46* runs) joined Bravo in the middle. Brought back into the attack, Abhimanyu Mithun ended their 69-run partnership sending back Bravo for 73 runs.

In the next over, Ishant Sharma claimed Darren Sammy to take his tally to 10 wickets in the match in the process becoming seventh Indian pacer to do so.

With seven WI wickets in the bag, the Indians were pressing for victory when play was called off due to bad light; rain and bad light had hampered the game throughout the match. A little earlier in the session, rain had interrupted play with WI needing 100 runs and India requiring five wickets to win.

Earlier, the morning session saw Fidel Edwards finish with a five-for as he claimed all three Indian wickets that fell on the last day of the match. The WI fast-bowler ended with a tally of eight wickets in the match. His first scalp of the day was Virat Kohli followed by VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni.

A tentative-looking Kohli departed after adding just the one run to his overnight score while Laxman (87 runs) once again missed out on a well deserved century. He was soon followed back by Dhoni who had replaced him at the crease. The Indian skipper once again disappointed with the bat, scoring only five runs before being caught at mid-off by Shivnaraine Chanderpaul off Edwards. With six wickets gone and Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh in the middle, Dhoni declared three overs later with the second innings score on 269 runs.

Brief Score (At the end of Day-5): India 1st Innings 201 all out in 68 overs (VVS Laxman 85, Suresh Raina 53, R Rampaul 3/38, D Bishoo 3/46, Fidel Edwards 3/56), 2nd Innings 269/6 in 102 overs (VVS Laxman 87, R Dravid 55, A Mukund 48, V Kohli 27, F Edwards 5/76) ; West Indies 1st Innnings 190 all out in 73.5 overs ( Marlon Samuels 78*, S Chanderpaul 37, Ishant Sharma 6/55), 2nd Innings 202/7 in 71.3 overs (Darren Bravo 73, C Baugh 46*, I Sharma 4/53). Match ended in a draw.

Man-of-the-Match: Ishant Sharma for his 10-wicket haul

Recap:

Day 4 - At stumps on the penultimate day of the match, India were on 229 runs for the loss of three wickets, with a lead of 240 runs. VVS Laxman was batting on 72 runs along with Virat Kohli on 26 runs at the other end. Earlier, Rahul Dravid had scored 55 runs on the way to his 60th half-century while Abhinav Mukund (48 runs) missed his maiden half-century.

Fidel Edwards had picked two wickets for West Indies.

Day 3 - Ishant Sharma was the highlight of Day 3 at the Kensigton Oval even as rain continued to hamper play. Along with his pace partner Praveen Kumar, Sharma continued to trouble the West Indies batsmen bagging three wickets in the post-lunch session. With his first wicket of the day, Darren Sammy, he took his tally in that innings to six wickets and reached a personal milestone of 100 wickets in Tests becoming the fourth-youngest player to do so.

West Indies were all out for 190 runs in their first innings. Marlon Samuels stood firm on an unbeaten on 78 as he ran out of partners at the other end.

When play was called off due to rain, India’s second innings score was 23 runs with all wickets in hand and a lead 34 runs.

Day 2 - With rain playing spoilsport at the Kensington Oval on Day 2 of the second Test, only 25.3 overs could be bowled and 68 runs scored for the loss of two wickets following an action-packed Day 1. At stumps on Day 2, Chanderpaul was not out on 20 runs and Marlon Samuels on 21 runs with the West Indies total on 98 runs for the loss of five wickets.

Day 1- Put in to at the Kensington Oval, India were all out for 201 runs on Day 1 of the second Test against West Indies. VVS Laxman scored a superb 85 runs while Suresh Raina contributed 53 runs. At the end of day’s the play, the West Indies had lost three wickets for 30 runs.