Tendulkar falls short of landmark but helps India over the line

West Indies 304 & 180 India 209 & 276-5 (India win by five wickets)

Tendulkar has been stuck on 99 hundreds for 14 innings (AP)

Sachin Tendulkar's sparkling 76 secured India's five-wicket win in the first Test against West Indies while prolonging his agonising wait for his 100th international century.

Tendulkar, who passed 15,000 Test runs on Tuesday, looked set for three figures before leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo trapped him lbw.

The 38-year-old departed after a fluent 148-ball knock, studded with 10 crisp boundaries, but not before laying the foundation for a much-needed win for India, who lost their top Test ranking after the 4-0 whitewash in England.

V V S Laxman (58 not out) also chipped in with a half-century as India, resuming on 152 for 2, chased down the 276-run victory target just after the lunch break for the loss of five wickets.

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was man of the match for his nine-wicket haul in his debut Test, while left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha finished with seven wickets.

India's captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was delighted with the performance of the team's relatively inexperienced bowling unit. "It was not an easy wicket to get the batsmen out. Ojha bowled really well in the first innings and Ashwin in the second innings," he said. "It was not that Ashwin got a lot out of the wicket. It was his variations that helped."

14... .... innings Tendulkar has been stuck on 99 hundreds. He hit his last international ton in an ODI in March. Prior to this run he used to hit an international century every 7.5 innings...

Reuters