While Javagal Srinath, in his comeback one-dayer, was mean and effective, he found no support from the other end. Ashish Nehra went for 25 runs in his first three overs, and when Ajit Agarkar replaced him, he fared no better. Srinath's first spell of six overs for 19 runs, therefore, was the lone high note in a largely discordant start for India.

Srinath's figures also included a wicket, that of Hinds, who drove a half-volley powerfully but unerringly straight to Agarkar at mid-off. That wicket - which almost didn't come, as Agarkar juggled the catch before hanging on to it - remained India's only inroads into the West Indian line-up for some time.

Marlon Samuels and Gayle dug into the Indian bowling with abandon, the former even taking 17 runs off Virender Sehwag's first over. A variety of back-foot punches and delicate glides followed, off just about every bowler who came on to ply his trade. Gayle reached his 50 off 51 balls in the 20th over.

After 25 overs, the West Indies had reached 141, with Gayle on 65 and Samuels on 41.

Perhaps Ganguly was disoriented, or perhaps Harbhajan Singh just had his pads on faster, for out came the turbaned off-spinner at number five! And even before commentators and spectators had a chance to fully thresh out the puzzlement of that move, Harbhajan had departed again, essaying a wild slog and only finding Ricardo Powell running in from the long-on fence.

Rahul Dravid then emerged at long last and, rendering Harbhajan's promotion even more inexplicable, promptly despatched a ball on the pads for four. Class then settled like a perceptible cloak on the VCA stadium as Laxman and Dravid proceeded to string together a stand for the fifth wicket.

Laxman seems to get rejuvenated after every Eden Gardens century; last year he shone during the one-day series against the Australians, and this time the West Indians are bearing the brunt of his silken touch and wrists of steel. After his 47 at Jamshedpur, Laxman fabricated a gem of an innings here, finding the gaps with supreme felicity and getting singles off the good balls otherwise.

As Kolkata 2001 proved, Dravid is the perfect partner for Laxman in such vein, and the Karnataka bat more than held his own, picking Chris Gayle for particular punishment, collaring the attack in general, and ensuring that India motored around at more than seven per over during the partnership. The indisciplined West Indian bowling hardly helped their cause. Dravid got to his 50 off just 39 balls, and the Indians had not even started slogging.

A hurried second to get VVS Laxman his century ran Dravid out for 51 off 42 balls. In the space of a delivery, Laxman then played a lazy waft outside the off to Chris Gayle, and Ridley Jacobs caught the batsman just a step outside the crease; Laxman departed, agonisingly stumped for 99.

Two runs later, Yuvraj Singh shimmied down the track and tried to whack it over the offside and was caught by a running Shivarine Chanderpaul at cover. Wickets continued to tumble as Javagal Srinath was called for a non-existent second by Mohammad Kaif, only to be run out at the striker's end by an apparently ubiquitous Chanderpaul.

In the final over, a slower ball from Drakes castled Anil Kumble, who was much too early into his pull stroke. And when India finally reached 279 for nine, it was difficult to believe that with Laxman and Dravid at the crease, they were at one point 260 for four. But the target is still steep for the West Indies, who will have to play much as they did in the previous game to pull off a win.

When Ajit Agarkar, 17 runs later, drove a pitched-up ball from Merv Dillon straight to Ramnaresh Sarwan at mid-on, matters looked bleak for the hosts. But VVS Laxman and a hugely-in-form Sourav Ganguly set about rebuilding as only pure stylists can - with a minimum of effort and more than a few soupcons of grace and panache.

Pushing singles with ease and pouncing gleefully on even half-bad balls to punish, Ganguly and Laxman steadily boosted India's total, giving the crowd a few delectable shots along the way. En route, Ganguly went past 8,000 one-day runs, even as Laxman progressed towards 1,000 runs.

Ganguly got to his 50 off 52 balls, mistakenly celebrating after reaching 49 as the ground scoreboard goofed. The innings continued smoothly, which made it all the more puzzling when a section of the crowd started to misbehave, raining paper debris and assorted stones upon the fielders, particularly Sarwan.

A quick conference between the umpires, captains and match-referee Mike Procter occurred mid-pitch, and even though the crowd quieted down in some time, an extra over was lopped off each innings to make up for the lost time.

At 25 overs, India were 135 for two, with Laxman unbeaten on 40 and Ganguly on 74.

The match has now been truncated to 48-overs-per-side, with fielding restrictions applying for 14 instead of the normal 15 overs. Three bowlers are allowed a maximum of 10 overs each, while two are allowed a maximum of nine.

This match was preceded by quite a few injury worries for both sides. Wicketkeeper-batsman Rahul Dravid strained his back since Jamshedpur, but he plays today regardless. Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh were also doubtful ahead of the one-day international, although both figure in the final line-up. Javagal Srinath's replacement of Jai P Yadav is thus the only change in the Indian team.

Matters were no different in the opposite camp, with the West Indies missing the services of Pedro Collins, for whom Corey Collymore comes into the side. Carl Hooper too was doubtful because of a knee strain, although indications were that the West Indian skipper would play.

Carl Hooper called correctly at the toss, and the West Indian skipper, perhaps heartened by the successful chase at Jamshedpur, opted to bowl first. Hooper may also have wanted to take maximum advantage of the moist conditions.

Teams:

India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Ashish Nehra, Rahul Dravid (wicket-keeper), Javagal Srinath, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman

West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Wavell Hinds, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs (wicket-keeper), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Vasbert Drakes