Lunch West Indies 117 and 145 for 4 (Brooks 36*, Blackwood 33*, Ishant 2-28) need 323 runs to beat India 416 and 168 for 4 dec.
A chase of 468 was always going to need a miracle, but West Indies offered hope of a fight with positive batting on the fourth morning of the second and final Test, on either side of a middle-session stumble.
Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja were the wicket-takers, but the main event of the morning centred around the second ever concussion substitute coming on in Test cricket, with Jermaine Blackwood striding in at 98 for 4. Blackwood wasn't in the original squad announced for the Test but is from Jamaica and had fielded as a substitute earlier in the match. He was called in with Darren Bravo retiring hurt in the fourth over of the day.
Bravo had been hit on the right side of the helmet off a Jasprit Bumrah bouncer in the last over of day three, which sent his stem guards - which protect the batsman's neck area - flying. A West Indies spokesperson said the batsman had undergone a concussion test after play and passed it. However, in the fourth over, immediately after creaming a cover drive off Bumrah, Bravo walked off the field. He was taken to a doctor and a concussion was subsequently confirmed, which allowed West Indies to draft in Blackwood.
Bravo's departure at the start of play didn't affect West Indies, with Shamarh Brooks looking in fine touch and Roston Chase offering solid support. Brooks had started the day by stroking a full toss from Mohammed Shami through cover, and he continued to show excellent timing during the session. There were two more cover drives, one more off Shami and one off Jadeja, alongside fours picked off to fine leg and deep midwicket too. Brooks should have been on his way back for 30, getting a spiffing delivery from Jadeja that reared up from a length and spun, to take the edge and go into Ajinkya Rahane's hands at slip, but replays showed that Jadeja had overstepped and Brooks survived. He added to Jadeja's injury by lacing a cover drive in his next over.
Before that, West Indies had faced a mid-session wobble with Chase and Shimron Hetmyer falling inside five balls. Jadeja got one to hold it's line after pitching on leg stump and struck Chase on the pads, who was playing for the turn. Given out on the field, he reviewed, but the call stayed with the umpire with the ball shown to be clipping the top of the stumps.
In the next over, Ishant threw one wide and Hetmyer was suckered into driving with short cover in place, and hit the ball exactly to the fielder.
However, just when it seemed like India had opened a door to charge through, a free-stroking Blackwood joined Brooks to keep West Indies ticking over. Blackwood had a slice of luck, dropped off his fourth ball before he had scored a run. He pushed at a Jadeja ball that took the edge, but Pant couldn't hold on. After that, Blackwood played with his familiar insouciance, crunching boundaries square and straight, even if not always with pristine timing.
The Sabina Park pitch wasn't as conducive to sideways movement as it had been during West Indies' first innings, though it offered plenty of carry. But West Indies found it easier to negotiate the Indian bowlers. The top order played more tightly than they had when they'd collapsed against Bumrah, and having stayed put, they capitalised on the loose deliveries.
