West Indies steamroll India
If it was the short-ball that undid the Indian top order in the previous match, then it was Ravi Rampaul’s discipline, aided by some poor shot-making by the batsmen that saw India slump to 82 for 8 after winning the toss and opting to bat first. The visitors never really recovered from that slump and only mustered 188 runs, which the hosts easily surpassed losing only 2 wickets and with more than 15 overs to spare.
Rampaul, drafted into the XI for this match at the expense of Lionel Baker, got the ball to move away from the right handers ever so slightly – just enough to catch the batsmen in two minds. He began his spell by picking up the wickets of Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma – both of who were caught behind the wickets playing away from the body. He then returned, after Yuvraj Singh’s brief blitz (35 off 33 balls) had put the Indian innings back on track, to pick up the wickets of Ravindra Jadeja (7) and Praveen Kumar (1) to finish with 4 for 37 – his best bowling figures in ODIs.
But for a valiant rear-guard action by MS Dhoni, who played a truly captain’s knock of 95 (130 balls), and an able and mature innings by RP Singh (23 from 75 balls), India could have well been bowled out for their lowest total against the West Indies. Instead, the 101-run stand helped India to a respectable total of 188, before Dhoni was last man out in the penultimate over of the innings.
Dhoni was more or less a spectator until RP Singh joined him in the middle; even the 47-run stand for the fourth wicket (of which he was a part) was dominated by Yuvraj Singh. Post Yuvraj’s dismissal – caught behind chasing a wide delivery – India lost four wickets for 28 runs, and were down and out for most counts.
However, Dhoni did not give up hope and played a calculated innings. With RP Singh for company, he initially farmed the strike and kept picking up singles off the fifth or sixth balls of the over. However, as RP Singh grew in confidence, and with the slower bowlers in action, Dhoni began to rotate the strike and the Indian innings was making a head start once again. It also helped that the West Indies relaxed just a bit and were waiting for things to happen, rather than pounce on the Indians. The 101-run partnership was the best ninth wicket partnership against the West Indies and only the fifth time in the history of ODIs that a 9th wicket pair had posted a century partnership.
To be fair to the West Indies, they should have had the Indian innings all folded up for under 100 – if only umpire Nigel Llong had ruled in favour of the hosts when Dhoni was yet to open his account. Dhoni gloved a leg-side delivery bowled by Jerome Taylor, but umpire Llong ruled that the ball had come off the thigh pad, when in fact the thigh pad was no where close to the ball. Dhoni was given another reprieve, on 32, when Dwayne Bravo grassed a difficult return catch.
Taylor (3 for 35) and Bravo (3 for 26) were the other wicket-takers for the hosts, while Suleiman Benn, Dave Bernard and Chris Gayle bowled tidily but without any success.
Chasing a target of modest target of 189 – and given how teams have faltered chasing small targets – it was important that the West Indies got off to a decent start. And Chris Gayle and Runako Morton gave them just that. Morton, despite his technical deficiencies, kept ticking the strike over and let his captain do the bulk of the scoring. Without taking too many risks, Gayle raced to his half-century off 37 balls – aided with seven fours and an effortless six over long on.
The openers added 101 runs before being separated in the 16th over; Gayle-force (64 from 46 balls) was dismissed by a spectacular running catch by Gambhir at long off. Though Ramnaresh Sarwan departed after a crisp innings of 15, Morton ensured there would be no further hiccups and saw his team home. He only hit five boundaries in his unbeaten 85 (102 balls) and always looked in control of proceedings in the middle. It was only fitting that he scored the winning runs – he sent a Harbhajan Singh delivery packing for a six over long on to seal the match in favour of his team. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was undefeated at the other end with 18 runs to his name.
For India, it was a forgettable match altogether; the batting never really came off, and when they took the field to defend their total, none of the players showed any intent. Rohit Sharma was the only successful wicket-taker; his two wickets were his first couple in international cricket.
If the first match on Friday was termed a poor advertisement for one-day internationals – especially in the light of how the 20-over format is fast gaining popularity across the world, then the second ODI on Sunday was just a disgrace to the sport itself. For something that is considered entertainment, proceedings at the Sabina Park were pretty drab. Consider this; off the 496 balls bowled in the day, 284 balls were dot balls and 161 others were singles – can it get any more worse? Are the game’s administrators watching?
