Thaindian News

Bridgetown, July 3 (IANS) West Indies captain Darren Sammy is confident of beating India in the third cricket Test to level the series after his team secured a draw at the Kensington Oval here Saturday.

The West Indies, courtesy some spirited batting performances by Darren Bravo (73) and Carlton Baugh (46), managed a draw in the second Test. The bad light helped them towards the end as play on the fifth day was called off when they were living dangerously at 202 for 7 with 10.3 overs remaining. India had set a 281-run target after declaring at 269 for six in their second innings.

Sammy said they had a chance of getting the target but quick wickets held them back.

“We believed we had a chance of getting the target. The coach outlined the stages, and by the tea and with 15 overs left, we were right on target. But we lost more wickets than we anticipated,” said Sammy.

“I am happy that we ended with a draw and we could go to Dominica (for third Test) and try to level the series.”

When asked whether they could beat India at Dominicia, he replied: “Of course. We have to score more runs. We restrict them to low totals but they restrict us to even lower totals. Had we scored 350 in the first innings, we could have had a lead of 150 and it could have been a different ball game. We will beat India when we put up big scores.”

While Bravo and Baugh delivered in the second innings, Marlon Samuels (78) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (37) toiled hard in the first to keep the West Indies in the hunt. Sammy was pleased with the batsmen’s effort in the match.

“We could do much better, but at least we saw guys taking a little bit of responsibility and scoring some runs for us,” Sammy said. “Samuels’ innings was very good for us. He batted for a long time and had a long partnership with Shiv (Chanderpaul). Bravo and Baugh did well in the second innings. We still have lot of room for improvement. We are not getting 300 runs on the board. If we can get runs, we can put pressure on India,” he said.