Mumbai November 19: It was Harbhajan Singh's triumph of will as much as his skill. Showing no signs whatsoever of the recent trials and tribulations that he had undergone, the 18-year-old sardar reaped a career-best haul and in the process, gave ample testimony of his mental strength.Playing his first international match after undergoing the `Titmus test', the young off-spinner made the West Indies A batsmen dance to his tunes at the Brabourne Stadium today and ended with figures of 6-63, antiquating his previous best (6-69) against Delhi in a Ranji Trophy match preceding this tie.
On a day when bowlers held sway -- 15 wickets crashed on Day Two -- the West Indians swiftly mopped up the President's XI tail, with left-arm paceman Pedro Collins claiming all three wickets in 11 balls. The home team's first innings lasted 15 minutes in the morning, during which, they added seven runs.
In reply, the West Indian batsmen fared poorly against the Indian spinners to concede a 51-run lead. The principal scorers-- opener Adrian Griffith (44), Neil Smith (48) and Wavel Hinds (36) -- used the long-handle as the best form of defence in their quest for runs. But it was Ramnaresh Sarwan (26) who stood out. He used his feet against the slow bowlers and featured in the innings-best association -- 67 runs for the fourth wicket -- with Smith.
Harbhajan made most of the rivals' discomfiture against spin to reiterate his potential. Bowling throughout from the Cricket Club of India end, he was most effective in his second spell (7-2-16-4) in which he took four wickets off 24 balls. He was on a hat-trick after dismissing Neil McGarrell and Wayne Phillip, but was denied the coveted distinction by tail-ender Collins.Left-arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi complemented Harbhajan at the other end by taking two wickets.
After the West Indies innings folded, 33 minutes into the final session, the President's XI were off to a disastrous start when opener Jitender Singh was dismissed of the third ball by Collins. Skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar(17) failed to emulate his first innings heroics, leaving Amol Muzumdar (batting 24) and Amay Khurasia (batting 20) to battle out the day.
With an overall lead of 114 runs, President's XI would be looking forward to an encore by Khurasia before going for the kill. The Madhya Pradesh left-hander had given a sneak preview of things in store when he smote left-arm spinner McGarrell for a six over long-on.
SCOREBOARD
Board President's XI (1st innings) (overnight 252-7):
Jitender Singh c Philip b Collins 7 (60b, 81m), Nikhil Haldipur c Griffith b Semple 29 (65b, 95m, 5x4), Amol Muzumdar lbw McGarrell 12 (38b, 53m, 1x4), Hrishikesh Kanitkar c Griffith b Lewis 68 (141b, 221m, 8x4), Amay Khurasia b Lewis 65 (83b, 107m, 7x4, 1x6), Vijay Bharadwaj c Campbell b Lewis 3 (34b, 35m), MSK Prasad c Lewis b McGarrell 17 (43b, 56m, 1x4), Harbhajan Singh c Phillip b Collins 31 (58b, 68m, 5x4), Rahul Sanghvi Jitender Singh c Phillip b Collins 9 (38b, 35m), Debashis Mohanty not out 1 (4b, 13m), Robin Singh(Jr) c Campbell b Collins 2 (4b, 3m), Extras (b 3, lb 2, nb 11): 16. Total (all out in 92.5 overs): 260
Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-43, 3-61, 4-173, 5-187, 6-207, 7-222, 8-252, 9-257
Bowling: King 18-9-25-0, Collins 20.5-4-56-4, Semple 9-1-25-1, Negarrell 23-4-72-2, Lewis 21-1-70-3, Smith 1-0-7-0West Indies A (1st innings):
A Griffith b Harbhajan 44 (82b, 114m, 5x4), Sherwin Campbell c Kanitkar b Robin 8 (24b, 39m, 1x4), Keith Semple c Jitender b Harbhajan 25 (43b, 49m, 3x4), Ramnaresh Sarwan c Jitender b Kanitkar 21 (82b, 100m, 2x4), Richard Smith c&b Sanghvi 48 (57b, 60m, 6x4, 1x6), Wavel Hinds b Harbhajan 36 (56b, 64m, 6x4, 1x6), Rawl Lewis st Prasad b Harbhajan 5 (23b, 21m), Neil McGarrel c Kanitkar b Harbhajan 0 (4b, 2m), Wayne Phillip b Harbhajan 0 (1b, 4m), Pedro Collins c Kanitkar b Sanghvi 7 (19b, 25m, 1x4), Reon King not out 4 (5b, 4m, 1x4); Extras (b 4, lb 2, nb 5): 11
Total (all out in 65.1 overs): 209
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-61,3-84, 4-151, 5-161, 6-177, 7-177, 8-181, 9-205
Bowling: Mohanty 6-1-18-0, Robin 8-1-20-1, Harbhajan 21-5-63-6, Sanghvi 17.1-0-74-2 (1nb), Kanitkar 13-3-28-1 (4nb)
Board President's XI (2nd innings):
Jitender Singh c Semple b Collins 0 (3b, 3m), Amol Muzumdar batting 24 (62b, 85m, 2x4), Hrishikesh Kanitkar c Phillip b McGarrell 17 (44b, 56m, 3x4), Amay Khurasia batting 20 (25b, 23m, 1x4, 1x6); Extras (nb 2): 2
Total (for 2 wickets in 22 overs): 63
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-32
Bowling: Collins 5-1-20-1, Semple 2-1-5-0, McGarrell 9-2-23-1, Lewis 5-2-13-0 (2nb), Sarwan 1-0-2-0
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.