India Backing Up

Leaving behind their pathetic show in the Twenty20 World Cup, Indian batsmen came firing on all cylinders as they trampled the West Indies attack to reach an intimidating 339 for six after opting to bat at Sabina Park. Blogs: 1983: Memories of India's World Cup win To Pak, with love However, defending even such a massive total proved quite a task for the Indians as they just about managed to bowl the hosts out for 319 in 48.1 overs. It was a spirited chase by the hosts, for whom Shivnaraine Chanderpaul top scored with 63 and Denesh Ramdin played a sparkling 29-run knock down the order. Earlier, Yuvraj treated the host bowlers with utter disdain and clobbered them for seven huge sixes and 10 boundaries apart from sharing a crucial 135-run stand with Dinesh Karthik (67) to shape the Indian innings. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (41), Yusuf Pathan (40 unbeaten) and Harbhajan Singh (21 not out) also chipped in with useful contributions. With the wicket of Chanderpaul in the 36th over it looked all over for the hosts but their lower order batted with steely resolve and made it an edge-of-the-seat contest. West Indies required 21 off the last two overs with one wicket in hand but Ashish Nehra removed Ramdin in the first ball of the 49th over to bring a huge relief for his side. Ramnaresh Sarwan (45) and Runako Morton (42) did well and got the starts for the West Indies but could not convert those into big knocks. Jerome Taylor (21) and David Bernard (19), batting at number seven and nine respectively did their best but their effort went in vain in the end. For India, Nehra (3/49) and Yusuf Pathan (3/56) took three wickets each. It was raining sixes as 23 of them were hit in the match. Only thrice a One-dayer has witnessed more sixes. The West Indies chase began in the right earnest with Chris Gayle (37) and Morton quickly putting up 65 for the first wicket before comeback man Asish Nehra got rid of the skipper. Gayle miscued a pull off the left-armer and Harbhajan took a smart running catch at mid-on. Morton's entrainig knock in which he hit for fours and a six ended when Yousuf had him caught behind. The hosts maintained a good run-rate to keep their hopes alive but continued losing their settled batsmen. The big-hitting Dwayne Bravo (8) though was extremely unlucky as he got out on a high full toss of Ishant Sharma but umpires did not call that a no-ball. Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo, making his debut, added 36 quick runs wicket but just when the partnership had started looking threatening Yusuf separated the pair by dismissing the former, ending all hopes of the hosts. Chanderpaul had just hit Yusuf for a massive six but failed to do an encore hitting straight to Ravinder Jadeja at deep mid-wicket but not before hitting three fours and three sixes in his 59-ball knock. Earlier, Yuvraj hit a blazing century and Karthik smashed a brilliant 67 to resurrect the India's innings, which was rocked by short-pitched bowling, led by Jerome Taylor. Early dismissals of Gautam Gambhir (13) and Rohit Sharma (4) had left India reeling at 32 for two but Yuvraj and Karthik batted with patience to not only save India from more jolts but also laid a solid platform for a good finish. After guiding his side to a safe position, Yuvraj opened his arms to good effects and punished the host bowlers all over the park en route to his 12th ODI century. He hit both Taylor and Chris Gayle for two sixes each and also added 86 runs for the fourth wicket with Dhoni. Yuvraj batted fearlessly as he hit Lionel Baker for two fours and a six to reach 98 and then stole a single off Taylor to complete his magnificent century. The Punjab southpaw was looking unstoppable but Dwayne then dealt the visitors twin-blow by dismissing Yuvraj and Ravinder Jadeja (0) off successive balls in the 39th over. Yuvraj's brilliant innings ended while trying to work one on the leg side but just managed a nick and stumper Denesh Ramdin took a splendid diving catch on his right. Yusuf Pathan (40 off 38) hit the first ball of the last over for a six and Harbhajan Singh (21 off 13) smashed the last one into the crowd to provide perfect finish to India. Earlier, Gambhir and Karthik, who switched to the opener's role in the absence of injured Virender Sehwag, gave a steady start to India, adding 25 for the first wicket. However Gambhir's lean patch continued as he could not build on and fell to a short-pitched delivery from Taylor. Surprised by the bounce, the left-hander mistimed an attempted pull shot only to find Dwayne Bravo. Rohit Sharma (4) became the second victim of the short-pitched stuff as he tried to pull one off Baker but just managed a top-edge to Dwayne in the square-leg region. Yuvraj and Karthik relied more on ones and twos initially and steadied the rocking ship but once they got their eye in, and spinners were launched into the attack runs started flowing from their blades. Yuvraj first hoicked rival skipper Chris Gayle for a huge six over the mid-wicket then meted out the same treatment to spinner Suleiman Benn to bring up the 100-run partnership. Karthik hit six boundaries in his 77-ball effort before being done in by a paddle scoop.