BASSETERRE (St Kitts), June 26: An unbroken, century opening stand between Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer before lunch has breathed life into India's chase for victory in the third Test against West Indies on Monday.

Chasing 392 for victory, India reached 109 without loss at the lunch interval on the last day, with Sehwag unbeaten on 65 and Jaffer not out on 35.

West Indies had declared their second innings on 172 for six about 35 minutes after they continued from their bedtime total of 113 for four.

Daren Ganga struck eight boundaries from 74 balls in 1-3/4 hours in an undefeated top score of 66 for the home team.

Anil Kumble was India's most successful bowler with three wickets for 60 runs from 12 overs, and Shantha Sreesanth collected two for 19 from six overs.

Sehwag and Jaffer then started sedately on the hard, true easy-paced pitch and gradually gained control with languid strokeplay.

Fortune however, smiled on Sehwag twice, after he scored two to reach 4,000 runs in Tests.

On five, Gayle dropped him at first slip off Jerome Taylor in the fourth over of the chase, and in the final 10 minutes before the interval, Ramnaresh Sarwan dropped him on 56 at straight extra cover off Dwayne Bravo.

On Sunday Vangipurappu Laxman stabilised India’s first innings with a patient 100, his 10th Test century from 231 balls with 15 fours.

Scoreboard

WEST INDIES (1st Innings) 581 (D. Ganga 135, R.R. Sarwan 116, S. Chanderpaul 97 not out, M.N. Samuels 87, C.H. Gayle 83; Harbhajan Singh 5-147)

INDIA (1st Innings)

Wasim Jaffer c Lara b Bravo 60

V. Sehwag c Lara b Collymore 31

V.V.S. Laxman c Ramdin b Collins 100

R. Dravid lbw b Taylor 22

Yuvraj Singh c Ramdin b Taylor 0

Mohammad Kaif lbw b Taylor 0

M.S. Dhoni lbw b Collymore 29

A. Kumble c Collins b Collymore 43

Harbhajan Singh not out 38

S. Sreesanth c Lara b Collins 0

Munaf Patel c Ganga b Bravo 13

EXTRAS (B-8, LB-5, NB-13) 26

TOTAL (all out, 170 overs) 362

FALL OF WKTS: 1-61, 2-124, 3-157, 4-159, 5-159, 6-220, 7-297, 8-311, 9-315.

BOWLING: Taylor 26-3-118-3; Collins 29.3-4-117-2 (nb10); Collymore 25-4-63-3 (nb2); Bravo 17.3-6-38-2 (nb1); Gayle 2-0-3-0; Samuels 7-1-10-0

WEST INDIES (2nd Innings, overnight 113-4):

C.H. Gayle c Dhoni b Sreesanth 3

D. Ganga not out 66

R.R. Sarwan c Dravid b Sreesanth 23

B.C. Lara st Dhoni b Kumble 19

S. Chanderpaul c and b Kumble 11

D.J.J. Bravo c Sreesanth b Kumble 9

M.N. Samuels st Dhoni b Harbhajan 20

D. Ramdin not out 8

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-7, W-1, NB-1) 13

TOTAL (for six decl, 32 overs) 172

FALL OF WKTS: 1-3, 2-46, 3-81, 4-102, 5-120, 6-172.

BOWLING: Munaf Patel 7-0-43-0 (1nb); Sreesanth 6-1-19-2; Kumble 12-0-60-3 (1w); Harbhajan Singh 7-0-39-1

INDIA (2nd Innings):

Wasim Jaffer not out 35

V. Sehwag not out 65

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-2, W-1, NB-1) 9

TOTAL (for no wkt, 26 overs) 109

BOWLING (to-date): Collins 6-0-18-0 (1nb, 1w); Taylor 4-1-10-0; Collymore 7-1-28-0; Samuels 4-0-16-0; Bravo 5-0-30-0.—Agencies