Kingston, July 1:
The Indian cricket team’s nine-match winning run came to an end after the West Indies held nerve to snatch a thrilling one-wicket victory over Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men in their ODI tri-series preliminary match here.
Chasing a modest target of 230, West Indies made heavy weather of the chase despite a sparkling knock of 97 by opener Johnson Charles but finally managed to register their second win in the tournament with 14 balls to spare.
With nine points from two matches, West Indies are in with a bright chance of making it to the finals. It was sweet revenge for the hosts, who had lost to India in the course of their unbeaten Champions Trophy triumph.
Kemar Roach (14 not out) got himself a perfect birthday present as he guided West Indies by keeping cool lower down the order. He flicked Umesh Yadav (3/43) towards square leg to bring up the victory in a match where fortune swung like a pendulum.
The foundation of the victory was laid by opener Charles who faced 100 balls hitting eight boundaries and four huge sixes. He added 116 runs for the fourth wicket with Darren Bravo (55) and the victory didn’t look out of sight.
The Indian bowlers made a fantastic comeback as they got some quick breakthroughs before Roach finally sealed it for the hosts.
At the start of the chase, West Indies were in dire straits as they lost both Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels within the first five overs and were precariously placed at 26 for three.
Yadav removed the opposition’s best batsman Gayle (11) and followed it up with the wicket of Devon Smith (0) while Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled Samuels (1) to reduce West Indies to 26 for three.
Gayle was dismissed when a delivery from Umesh rose awkwardly and it hit the upper portion of his bat. The resultant catch was taken by Suresh Raina stationed at short cover.
In his next over, Yadav removed left-hander Smith with an inswinger while Samuels dragged one from Kumar back onto his stumps. Opener Charles, however, batted positively. The first six scoring strokes were boundaries as he punished both Yadav and Kumar.
With minimum backlift and least footwork, Charles successfully hit through the line whenever it was slotted in his zone. He found an able ally in Bravo as the duo resurrected the innings.
The 50 run partnership came off 70 balls. Bravo, who was slow to begin with but chanced his arms against Ravindra Jadeja hitting the bowler over his head for a six.
The duo batted sensibly as the 100 came up in the 22nd over and Charles completed a well-deserved half-century off 60 balls. To celebrate his 50, Charles gave Jadeja the charge to hit him into the stands. The 100 runs for the fourth wicket partnership came off 131 balls and in the 26th over.
With the pitch easing out a bit compared to first half, the West Indian pair didn’t have any problems in negotiating the Indian bowlers. Spin twins Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin weren’t as effective as one expected them to be.
A desperate Virat Kohli, leading the side in regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s absence, brought back Yadav for his second spell but Charles greeted him with one of the biggest six of the match.
Finally, after a 116-run partnership, Bravo was gone for 55 trying to dispatch a half-tracker from Ashwin but only managing to find Shikhar Dhawan at short mid-wicket.
The wicket rejuvenated the Indians as Ishant Sharma came back for his second spell and bowled a perfect length to induce an edge off rival captain Kieron Pollard which was smartly taken by Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps. From 142 for three, West Indies suddenly became 155 for five.
From 155 for five, it soon became 161 for six as Ashwin, operating from round the wicket, pushed one which breached Denesh Ramdin’s defence. Sammy announced his arrival with a huge six off Ishant and followed it up with a back-foot cover drive off Ashwin. If this wasn’t enough, Sammy used Yadav’s pace to hit him over deep square leg for a second six to bring down the required runs to below 50 with 15 overs still remaining.
The former skipper scored a quick-fire 29 off 25 balls before he was holed out in the third man region of Ishant’s bowling.
Earlier, Indian batsmen battled hard on a difficult track as they managed 229 for seven in stipulated 50 overs. (PTI)
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