It's not often that one gets to call a draw 'thrilling', but that's exactly what India and the West Indies served up across the entertaining ebbs and flows of day five of the third and final Test in Mumbai.

The contest went down to the very last ball of the match, with all three results possible through the dying throes. In the end, though, there could be only one result and perhaps the stalemate was the most fitting considering that both sides scored the exact same amount of runs - 724 - for only the second time in the history of Test cricket.

Resuming on 81 for two overnight, the Windies sported high hopes of an eventual declaration before looking to bowl the opposition out a second time. Their best laid plans, however, were promptly tossed out the window by a sorry collapse that saw India clinch the last eight wickets for the addition of a mere 43 runs. Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin, as has so often been the case in this series, were instrumental in the capitulation.

The duo shared all 10 wickets, with the left-armer Ojha finishing with figures of six for 47 to his right-arm counterpart's four for 34. Not for the first time and probably not the last, coach Ottis Gibson will have to haul his troops over the coals for their latest display of abject batting. So fluid in the first innings, they were abysmal a second time around, even if a turning pitch greeted them on Saturday.

Left a modest target of 243 in 64 overs, India's pursuit got off to a solid start on the back of a typically brisk half-ton from Virender Sehwag (60).

When the half-centurion perished and three more wickets, including Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar's demise to Marlon Samuels (two for 93), fell in quick succession, though, the hosts were in two minds whether to chase the runs or bat out the draw.

Guilty of the latter when the former was certainly the order of the day in Dominica earlier this year, the Indians opted to right their wrongs of the past.

All was going swimmingly while Virat Kohli and VVS Laxman were at the crease. The twosome added 52 for the fifth wicket before the veteran reckoned the pull was on in the face of a shortish ball from Ravi Rampaul (three for 56). The delivery, however, was a touch too full for the shot, with the right-handed Laxman holing out in the deep for 32.

With Mahendra Dhoni the superb finisher that he is, the chase remained a viable option. India would not give in, but neither would the visitors.

Not content with the lone scalp of Laxman, seamer Rampaul went two better by removing Dhoni, caught in the covers attempting to force the pace, and Ishant Sharma, castled by some late seam movement.

Meanwhile, Devendra Bishoo (two for 65) took his cue to remove Kohli for 63 moments after a string of delay tactics from the Windies that included fake cramps, prolonged changes in the field and two-minute chats between bowler and captain.

Eight down and three runs still needed, the Wankhede Stadium faithful were being treated to an exemplary piece of seesaw Test cricket.

Although unable to clinch the mere single needed to win the match and blank the Windies three-nil across Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai, first-innings centurion, Man of the Match and Man of the Series Ashwin dug deep to shepherd tail-ender Varun Aaron, who was intent on swinging for the fences no matter what.

Secure in the fact that the match could not be lost and that a tie was now out of the equation, Ashwin wielded through the line of the last ball of the humdinger, scampering through for one, turning down a second and enduring a run-out at the striker's end. His dismissal did not matter to India, though, as they had drawn the game regardless. The men from the Caribbean, however, celebrated as if they had pulled off a series-clinching victory.