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Summary Darren Bravo hit a stylish 166 as West Indies reached 575-9 against India.
On the second day of the third and final test at Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, Bravo, beginning to make the comparisons to cousin Brian Lara worthy, struck his second consecutive century as the top six in the batting lineup all made at least half-centuries, only the fifth instance in the history of test cricket.Kirk Edwards and Kieran Powell added 86 and 81 respectively, and at stumps, Fidel Edwards was on 7 and Devendra Bishoo on 2 as West Indies frustrated Indias bid to whitewash the series 3-0. West Indies hasnt beaten India in a test since 2002, nor won one in India since 1994.Bravo, who had scored 136 in the second innings of the previous test and 195 against Bangladesh at Mirpur last month, made the most of the perfect batting conditions to continue a superb run that has seen him notch three centuries in his last four tests.I am in pretty good form at this point in time and hopefully it can continue, Bravo said. It was very important for me to stay positive because when you come in on that platform (of a good start), you try and continue from where they (other batsmen) left off.Resuming at 57 in an overnight total of 267-2, Bravo began the day with attacking intent, dispatching pace bowler Varun Aarons first two deliveries of the morning to the fence. The first went past mid-off and the second straight down the ground.Bravo reached his century with a square-drive off Ravichandran Ashwin and also passed 1,000 test runs during an innings that included 17 fours off 284 balls.Bravo went for an expansive drive only to edge to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and give debutant pace bowler Aaron his first of three wickets after batting close to five hours.I was a bit tired as I was suffering from flu over the last couple of days and it took a toll on me. Nevertheless Im quite satisfied with my performance and obviously feeling good about the entire team performance, Bravo said.Bravo was involved in century partnerships with overnight partner Edwards, and another left-hander, Powell.Edwards scored 21 more runs in the morning session, including three fours, before a lovely away-going delivery from pace bowler Ishant Sharma brought an end to his attractive innings within sight of a century. He edged the ball to Dhoni, who took five catches by the end of the day.Edwards struck 13 fours off 165 balls and batted for 208 minutes.The third-wicket partnership between Edwards and Bravo was worth 164 runs and came off 269 deliveries.Powell, a replacement for injured batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, struck nine fours off 149 balls before a rash shot brought about the end of the brisk 160-run, fourth-wicket stand.Powell slashed at a delivery from left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and was caught behind by Dhoni after the partnership forced Dhoni to rotate his bowlers in a desperate bid for breakthroughs, including using part-timers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.Marlon Samuels also made a quick 61 with nine fours as India was surprised to see its unfancied opposition bat out a full two days after struggling in the opening two tests.This is the first time I have seen a wicket like this here (without much bounce), India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said after taking 4-154. Wankhede is generally a very sporting wicket; it was quite disheartening to see the wicket behave the way it did.India won the opening test in New Delhi by five wickets and the second in Kolkata by an innings and 15 runs.
