India declare at 217/7, set Windies 346-run target

St. Lucia, Aug 13 (IANS) Declaring their second innings at 217/7 in 48 overs, India set a 346-run target for the West Indies to win on the last day of the third Test at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium here on Saturday.

Resuming the innings from the overnight 157/3 in 39 overs on a sunny and humid day, India lost four wickets for just 60 runs in nine overs to attacking bowling, especially by Miguel Cummins, who took six of the seven wickets for 48 runs in 11 overs.

In form Ajinkya Rahane remained 78 not out in 116 balls when Indian skipper Virat Kohli declared the second innings after Ravichandran Ashwin got out for 1 to Cummins.

Sharma, who scored a breezy 41 in 59 balls with three mighty sixes and a boundary on the fourth day (Friday), was the first to go when a Cummins' straight delivery hit him on the leg before the wicket (LBW) for the same score.

Though keeper Wriddhiman Saha (14 in 14 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (16 in 13 balls) made useful contributions and helped Rahane rotate the strike with quick singels and twos, both fell to Cummins who was in great form.

Brief scores:

India 353 and 217/7 declared (Ajinkya Rahane 78 not out, Rohit Sharma 41, Lokesh Rahul 28, Shikhar Dhawan 26; Miguel Cummins 6-48.

West Indies: 225 (Kraigg Brathwaite 64, Marlon Samuels 48, Darren Bravo 29; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5-33, Ravichandran Ashwin 2-52)

--IANS

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