Kingston (Jamaica), June 23 (IANS) West Indies captain Darren Sammy says partnerships will be the key to the team's chances in the the first criclet Test against India.
At stumps Wednesday, West Indies were 131/3 and need another 195 runs to take the lead in the three-Test series.
Veteran Shiv Chanderpaul (24) and left-hander Darren Bravo (30) added 51 rus for the fourth wicket and will carry the side's hopes into the penultimate day at Sabina Park Thursday.
"Partnerships will be the key. We have to believe we can win. We just have to show the commitment and fight. The first hour will be important. The team that wins the first hour will be in a good position. At this stage I would say it's pretty even. We have two set batsmen at the crease and they are playing well," said Sammy, who took four wickets in India's second innings total of 252.
Sammy is banking on his most experienced batsman Chanderpaul, who is playing his 131st Test match, to come good.
"We all know what Shiv is capable of. He has been excellent throughout his career, he has been in this kind of position many times before and he has handled it very well, that's why he has a Test average of just under 50. To get to this victory target, we will need big partnerships."
"We saw a few balls keep low and we saw a few balls bounce and a few spun as well. We should have batted much better in the first innings. This is a good wicket and tomorrow we will be looking to get some good scores from the batsmen."
On the bowling effort Sammy said: "We were behind in the field so my job was to keep things tight and try to build some pressure. My job was to bowl lots of dot balls and restrict the scoring.
Apart from Sammy's 4-52 from 27 overs, leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo was also excellent and took 4-65 for a match figure of 7-140. India's innings revolved around Rahul Dravid,
who scored his 32nd century. Dravid made 112 from 274 balls.
"I want to commend the bowlers for the way they stuck to the job and bowled out India under 300 twice. Our bowlers have been doing the hard work and now it's time for the batsmen to go out and win it for the team."