West Indies pip India by 3 wickets

New Delhi: The Champions Trophy saw another match going down to the wire when West Indies edged India to the finish with three wickets and two balls to spare in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

A stutter right at the end of the Windies innings meant India were right back in the game in the last over, but Marlon Samuels hit the winning boundary taking his side to one step on the right side of the semi-finals.

Half-centuries by opener Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan guided West Indies to safety after Chris Gayle had laid the foundation for the steady run chase. Indian bowlers looked to have lost their rhythm that won them the game against England.

Beginning the chase, West Indies opened with Chris Gayle and the Shivnarine Chanderpaul. After putting up a target that is not too stiff it was expected that the Indian fielders would back their bowlers.

In the fifth over of the West Indies innings Suresh Raina dropped the dangerous Gayle off Irfan Pathan who celebrated the life by hitting the bowler for two fours after the drop. He had also scored a four on the first ball of the same over before being dropped.

And a few overs later when Ajit Agarkar was bowling, RP Singh at long-leg failed to collect the ball which went through his legs for a four. And again the batsman was Gayle.

Gayle continued to torment India and was keen to hit the ball as hard as he could. But he tried to do too much too soon and paid the penalty when RP made amends for his poor fielding to take a skier coolly off Munaf Patel’s ball to send the Caribbean batsman back into the pavilion.

The West Indies opener scored 34 off 37 balls with the help of seven fours.

Dwayne Bravo could safely be termed as India’s nemesis, if not an all-rounder possessing prodigious talent. Promoted up the order at number three, Bravo showed every bit of his batting abilities to the Indian pacers, striking copybook shots with guile at one end, while Chanderpaul came into his own, down at the other.

Coming on as the Windies’ version of India’s Irfan Pathan, Bravo however didn’t repeat the latter’s score in the middle. But he made a hash of his stay, as being extra-cautious only played into the hands of Harbhajan Singh, who bent one through his defence, trapping him leg before.

Eight luscious boundaries guided Chanderpaul to a 50, his confidence growing with every shot that he played, and his intentions made crystal clear by sheer concentration.

Virender Sehwag, who came on to bowl, slipping into the second spinners’ shoes, struck with a viscous turner neatly held by skipper Dravid at slip, shortly after Chanderpaul reached his half-ton.

Yet no signs of the Prince. Brian Lara, only announced fit for the game during the morning of the match, saved himself and allowed Runako Morton to step up.

Morton, though not striking the ball with much venom, certainly made sure that he would put a price on his wicket. And so he did, placing the ball in the gaps, quietly cutting down on the target. The support from the other end by Ramnaresh Sarwan, just like Brian Lara’s presence during the match against Australia, was evidently rubbing off on Morton too.

Sarwan worked his way to a 50; the pair was closing in on seeing their side through to register another memorable win for the Caribbeans, close to adding to the recent successes against India.

Morton by now had lost the nerves, his shots reached the fielders like a tracer bullet if not beating them to the fence. A keen contest in the offing had lost the fizz, Team India’s shoulder’s had dropped down.

Right when it seemed it was all over for India, Ajit Agarkar struck when Runako Morton went for a cross-batted swat, but completely missed it before the stumps to be declared out leg before with 13 runs remaining.

A bizarre series of events followed Morton’s dismissal, as West Indies, prone to dismal collapses in the past, almost relived the horror when Lara, Sarwan and Dwayne Smith went back to the pavilion in the space of seven runs.

Drama ensued as the hosts found themselves back in the game with Windies requiring four from three balls. Marlon Samuels however didn’t buckle under pressure, for he dispatched the next Ajit Agarkar delivery fiercely to the fence, clinching a thrilling win for his team with two balls to spare.

India struggle

Batting woes continued for India in their Group A match against the West Indies at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera (Ahmedabad) on Thursday.

The Indian total was build around Dhoni’s 51 and Rahul Dravid’s 49. Dhoni was run out in the last over of the Indian innings going for a second run when West Indies wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh collected the throw by Shivnarine Chanderpaul neatly and broke the stumps with the batsman just inches short of his ground.

After being put in to bat by Windies skipper Brian Lara, India managed to put up 223 on board thanks to some lusty hitting by wicketkeeper/batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni who scored 51 off 65 balls with the help of two massive sixes and one four.

But for Dhoni’s pyrotechnics India would have finished for much less as they were struggling for 131/5 after 31 overs and the prospects of being bowled out inside 50 overs was very much real.

At that time Dhoni and Suresh Raina were at the crease with the West Indians bowling a tight line and length backed by their fielders.

The dominance of the bowlers was so overwhelming that the batsmen could manage to find the boundary only after 72 balls when Raina cut Marlon Samuels for a four in the 42nd over. Before that Yuvraj had hit a four off Smith in the 30th over.

Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar opened the Indian innings and a good start by the duo would have given the given the perfect platform to put up a big score but that was not to be.

Sehwag started in his usual fashion hitting some and missing some. He also survived a run out chance when Dwayne Smith, at point, failed to hit the stumps with the batsman out of his ground.

But Sehwag could not take advantage of the reprieve and his innings was finally brought to an end when Jerome Taylor trapped him lbw for 17. The experiment of sending Irfan Pathan up the order failed as he was sent back for a duck bowled by Ian Bradshaw.

In the fifth over of the innings Taylor hit Pathan on the helmet as the batsmen tried to duck under a snorter.

Tendulkar was slow to get off the mark, realising that his stay in the middle is crucial to India’s chances. Taylor also hit Tendulkar on the right shoulder off a short ball but that did little to unsettle the batsman.

He played some delightful shots and in the company of Dravid was busy rebuilding the Indian innings when an inside edge off a Bradshaw’s delivery went on to hit the stumps and give India a big jolt. Tendulkar made 29 with the help of four fours with the score reading 69/3 in 16.5 overs.

Seeing the top order collapse, Dravid put his head down and began doing what he is best at -- rescuing India from a precarious situation. The 100 of the Indian innings was brought up in the 24th over. The Indian skipper also played some aggressive shots and hit Dwayne Bravo for two consecutive fours in the 23rd over.

Seeing his skipper fight back, Yuvraj Singh, who was a little edgy in the beginning, began playing with confidence. He added 61 runs for the fourth wicket with Dravid before he spooned a simple catch to Bravo to give Bradshaw his third wicket.

And more distress was in store for India as Dravid was run out going for a quick single after Mahendra Singh Dhoni had played the ball to the square leg. But before Dravid could make his ground Dwayne Smith shattered the stumps to deny the Indian skipper his 72nd ODI fifty.

After the fall of Dravid it was up to Dhoni and Raina -- the last recognised batting pair—and they took their time to settle down as the pitch was not really conducive to stroke play.

However, Raina after hitting India first four in 72 balls was stumped by Carlton Baugh for 19 off Samuels. With the score reading 164/6 and only eight overs left not many would have put their money on India crossing the 200-run mark.

Dhoni realised that the lower order would not be able to do much came out of his shell and began taking risks. Converting ones into twos and diving full length to complete runs he gave hope that India would be able to put up a fighting total.

And the Jharkhand batsman brought up the 200 of the Indian innings in the 47th over hitting Gayle to two consecutive sixes. Harbhajan Singh gave him company, scoring 15 off 15 balls before being bowled by Taylor and Ajit Agarkar was the last man out off the last ball of 50th over.

For West Indies, Bradshaw was the most successful bowler taking three wickets.

Teams:

India: Rahul Dravid (C), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (WK), Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, Munaf Patel.

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara (C), Runako Morton, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Smith, Carlton Baugh (WK), Ian Bradshaw, Jerome Taylor.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Darryl Harper (Australia). Third umpire: Simon Taufel (Australia). Reserve umpire: Amiesh Saheba (India). Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa).

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