BASSETERRE (St Kitts), June 24: Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels both completed half-centuries to help West Indies continue the long, hard grind for India on the third day of the third Test on Saturday.

Chanderpaul was undefeated on 76 and Samuels was unbeaten on 69, as West Indies, who chose to bat on the opening day in the rain-affected Test, reached 536 for five in their first innings at lunch.

With few alarms, the pair has added 130, unbroken, for the sixth wicket during an extended morning period, after West Indies continued from their bedtime total of 420 for five.

Chanderpaul glanced Munaf Patel to deep fine leg for a single to reach his 50, and Samuels turned Anil Kumble through square leg for a single to reach his landmark.

Chanderpaul has hit half-dozen fours and one six from 194 balls in almost 4-3/4 hours, and Samuels has struck seven fours and one six from 150 balls in a little over 3-1/4 hours.

Outside of the personal milestones for Chanderpaul and Samuels, the game meandered into a sleeper, with the West Indies committed to batting long, and India employing some negative tactics to stem the flow of runs.

The half-centuries from Chanderpaul and Samuels follows hundreds from opener Daren Ganga (128) and vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan (116), as well as 83 from left-handed opener Chris Gayle.

Scoreboard

WEST INDIES (1st Innings, overnight 420-5):

C.H. Gayle b Patel 83

D. Ganga b Patel 135

R.R. Sarwan lbw b Sreesanth 116

B.C. Lara lbw b Patel 10

S. Chanderpaul not out 76

D.J.J. Bravo c Dhoni b Harbhajan 21

M.N. Samuels not out 69

EXTRAS (LB-14, W-1, NB-11) 26

TOTAL (for five wkts, 162 overs) 536

TO BAT: D. Ramdin, P.T. Collins, J.E. Taylor, C.D. Collymore.

FALL OF WKTS: 1-143, 2-346, 3-362, 4-371, 5-406.

BOWLING (to-date): Munaf Patel 32-4-134-3 (8nb, 1w); Sreesanth 31-8-99-1 (1nb); Kumble 47-8-140-0 (2nb); Harbhajan 40-6-116-1; Sehwag 12-3-33-0.

INDIA: V. Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, V.V.S. Laxman, R. Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, M.S. Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, A. Kumble, S. Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.—Agencies