MUMBAI : Darren Bravo continued his dream run with a third century in
four Tests to help the West Indies post a mammoth 575-9 on the second
day of the third and final Test against India on Wednesday.Bravo,
cousin of former West Indies batting great Brian Lara, dominated the
Indian attack with a superb 166 as the tourists scored 308 runs on a
batsmen's day after resuming at 267-2.Kieran Powell (81),
who replaced injured batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and Marlon Samuels
(61) also made merry on a batting track at the Wankhede Stadium in
Mumbai.The West Indies' batting flourished for a second
successive day, with the top-six batsmen all scoring a half-century or
more only the fifth instance in the history of Test cricket.The
left-handed pair of Bravo and Powell consolidated their team's position
with a 160-run stand for the fourth wicket to virtually shatter India's
hopes of making a clean sweep.The hosts lead 2-0 in the
series after winning the opening Test in New Delhi by five wickets and
the second match in Kolkata by an innings and 15 runs.Powell
hit nine fours in his second half-century in four Tests before being
caught behind off spinner Pragyan Ojha while Bravo became debutant
seamer Varun Aaron's first Test victim, caught behind while attempting
to drive.The day belonged to Bravo, whose superb run in Test
cricket began in Bangladesh where he scored 195 in Dhaka for his maiden
hundred in his team's series-clinching victory early this month.The
22-year-old then cracked a brilliant 136 against India in the last
innings of the previous Test in Kolkata before scoring a second
successive hundred on Wednesday.Bravo, 57 overnight,
completed his century in the morning with an aggressive shot when he
square-drove off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for a boundary. He hit 17
fours in his 284-ball knock.It was another frustrating day
for India on a pitch offering no help to bowlers as they could take just
two wickets in the opening two sessions, with paceman Ishant Sharma and
Ojha bagging one each.India skipper Mahendra Singh
Dhoni also pressed part-timers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag into
the attack in a desperate bid to break the Bravo-Powell stand before
Aaron struck thrice in four overs in the evening.Aaron also
bowled Carlton Baugh (four) and had skipper Darren Sammy (three) caught
by wicket-keeper Dhoni, who took five catches.He nearly got another wicket but Dhoni missed a difficult chance off Samuels when the batsman was on 46.Sharma
was rewarded for his hard work in the opening session when he had Kirk
Edwards (86) caught behind with a delivery that moved away.Edwards,
65 overnight, looked set for his third century in six Tests as he began
on an impressive note, flicking and pulling Aaron for two fours in the
opening hour.He hit 13 fours in his 165-ball knock and added 164 for the third wicket with Bravo.
