Edwards' debut ton lead Windies' battle

Dominica, July 10 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) ? Kirk Edwards hit a century on his test debut on Saturday to give West Indies faint hope of saving the third and final test with India at Dominica.

Edwards, a 26-year-old from Barbados, blasted 110, the highest score by a West Indian on debut for nearly 40 years, as the home side reached 224 for six when stumps were drawn on the fourth day.

Thet left them with a slender overall lead of 81 runs with four second-innings wickets remaining after India captured three scalps near the close to take control.

India lead the three test series 1-0 and while West Indies theoretically still have a chance of levelling the series, the tourists will surely fancy their own chances of ending on a high with a second test victory.

The only glimmer of hope for West Indies is that Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who in this test broke the record for most test appearances for the Caribbean team, is still at the crease having made an ultra-patient 73 from 201 balls.

Skipper Darren Sammy will resume with Chanderpaul Sunday and with only the tail to come he will need to produce a real captain's innings if they are to set India a challenging target.

It could have been a different situation had Indian not picked up those three wickets late in the final session.

Edwards finally went caught behind off Harbhajan Singh after becoming the 13th West Indian to score a century on his debut. His 110 was the highest score on debut by a West Indian since Lawrence Rowe made a double hundred against New Zealand in 1972.

"It is a special feeling to get a test century on debut for the West Indies but I would have liked to carry on and make a bigger score for the team," Edwards said.

"Test cricket is about fighting and I see myself as a fighter. We have a lot of fighting characters in the team and we will continue the fight in this match."

Marlon Samuels lasted just three balls, trapped leg before wicket by Harbhajan and then wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh was a victim of the new ball, pushing a simple catch to Abhinav Mukund off Praveen Kumar.

It was a soft end to what had been a solid and gritty recovery from West Indies after India had made early inroads before lunch.

Kieran Powell edged Ishant Sharma to Suresh Raina at third slip and then fellow opener Adrian Barath also played at a ball he could have left alone, diverting a Kumar delivery to Virat Kohli at fourth slip.

After the interval, Harbhajan snapped up Darren Bravo for 14, caught by Kumar at mid-off as he tried to drive.

It was however a good day for Barbadians named Edwards - pace bowler Fidel ended with a five-wicket haul after rattling through the Indian tail early in the morning session to end the tourists' first innings at 347 all out.

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