West Indies show great tenacity, but India on the cusp of series victory

West Indies show great tenacity, but India on the cusp of series victory

India are on the cusp of sealing a 2-0 series victory, but it was not without plenty of steely resolve with the bat from a stoic West Indies line-up in Delhi on Monday.

The hosts would have fancied their chances of wrapping the match up on Day 4, but the West Indies batters had other ideas.

Starting the day on 173/2, the visitors continued where they left off. Opening bat John Campbell nudged and nurdled his way to his maiden century at one of the toughest places to do it. He added 15 more runs to his ton before being outdone by Ravindra Jadeja, who trapped Campbell in front.

That brought captain Roston Chase to the crease. Partnering with Shai Hope, they went past the 50-run mark and the latter raised his bat for his first century in over eight years. At 271/3, the men in maroon had already surpassed expectations after being asked to follow-on from their first innings of 248.

Then came the familiar collapse. They would lose their next six wickets for just 40 runs as tweaker Kuldeep Yadav weaved his web of deception to bag three wickets.

However, there was life in the West Indies yet. With chaos all around him, Justin Greaves had stood firm and when tailender Jayden Seals joined, he stood firmer still. The all-rounder notched up his 50 as the final pair collected 79 gritty runs for the tenth wicket partnership, delaying India's celebrations. When Jasprit Bumrah finally got Seals, he'd earned a career high 32 and the hosts needed 121 to win.

The visitors took the momentum into their opening spell. Jomel Arrican dismissed a dancing Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was too eager to get on with proceedings, in the second over. KL Ruhal and Sai Sudharsan calmed things down as they got to the end of play at 63/1. 

READ MORE: Australia captain Pat Cummins not very hopeful of being fit for first Ashes Test